GIFT  OF 


Rnnir$Fi  i  FRS 


New-Church  Popular  Series.    [NO.  i. 


THE  WORLD  BEYOND: 


PRESENTING 


SOME  OF  THE  FA  CTS,  LA  WS  AND  PHENOMENA 
OF  THE  GREAT  HEREAFTER. 


BY 


JOHN  DOUGHTY, 

PASTOR  OF  THE   FIRST  NEW  JERUSALEM   SOCIETY 
OF   SAN  FRANCISCO. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
E.  CLAXTON  &  COMPANY. 

930    MARKET    STREET. 

1883. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1882,  by 

E.  CLAXTON  &  CO., 
in  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


J   PAGAN  &  SON, 

STEREOTY1T.   J-'OI'MiEKS, 
PHILADELPHIA. 


,j|?,  HIS  little  work  consists  of  a  series  of  lectures 
^pfcS  delivered  by  the  author  in  the  New  Jeru- 
salem Temple  in  San  Francisco,  in  the 
spring  and  autumn  of  1878.  They  were  well  re- 
ceived at  the  time  of  their  delivery,  and  a  consid- 
erable number  of  persons  who  heard  them,  have 
since  expressed  a  desire  to  see  them  in  a  printed 
form.  They  are  therefore  given  here  substantially 
as  they  were  delivered,  in  the  hope  that  they  may,  in 
their  present  form,  reach  a  somewhat  larger  audi- 
ence, and  thus  become  more  extensively  useful. 

The  work  lays  no  claim  to  doctrinal  originality, 
nor  does  it  pretend  to  be  an  exhaustive  treatise  on 
the  sublime  subject  whereof  it  treats.  It  has  been 
the  author's  desire  and  purpose  simply  to  present 
in  an  intelligible  and  compact  form,  the  rational 
and  Scriptural  argument  in  support  of  the  more 
prominent  beliefs  and  teachings  of  the  New  Church 
336041  iii 


IV  PREFACE. 

• 
concerning  the  life  beyond  the  grave ;  trusting  that 

his  very  brevity  of  statement,  coupled  with  the  in- 
trinsic interest  and  importance  of  the  theme,  may 
kindle  in  the  mind  of  the  reader  a  desire  to  pursue 
the  investigation. 

And  if  such  desire  should  be  awakened,  the  in- 
quirer is  referred  for  further  instruction  to  Swe- 
denborg's  work  on  u  Heaven  and  Hell,"  to  the  neat 
little  volumes  (I.  and  II.)  of  the  "Swedenborg 
Library,"  to  "The  New  View  of  Hell,"  by  Mr. 
Barrett,  and  "Our  Children  in  Heaven,"  by  Dr. 
Holcombe.  By  a  careful  perusal  of  these  works, 
he  will  not  only  obtain  a  thorough  knowledge  of 
the  Pneumatology  of  the  New  Church,  but  learn 
all  that  a  thoughtful  and  reasonable  person  would 
care  to  know  about  the  World  Beyond,  or  the  facts, 
laws  and  phenomena  of  the  great  Hereafter. 

J.  D. 

SAN  FRANCISCO, 

September  5,  1882. 


CONTENTS, 


HEAVEN. 


PAGE 
9 


I.  NATURE  AND   ORIGIN  OF  HEAVEN 

II.  THE  TWO  RESURRECTIONS.        ...  25 

III.  WHERE  AND    WHAT  IS  HEAVEN?    .        .  41 

IV.  THE  LIFE  OF  HEAVEN 58 

V.  CONNECTION  OF  EARTH  WITH  HEA  VEN  76 

VI.  CHILDREN  IN  HEA  VEN.  .  93 


HELL. 

I.  THE  ORIGIN  OF  HELL  . 
II.  THE  NATURE  OF  HELL 

III.  THE  DURATION  OF  HELL 

IV.  THE  FIRES  OF  HELL 


.  113 
.  125 
.  139 
.  154 


THE  WORLD  OF  SPIRITS    .       .169 


HEAVEN. 


Vll 


THE  WORLD  BEYOND. 

HEAVEN. 


i. 

NATURE  AND  ORIGIN  OF  HEAVEN. 

1 

JlIE  subject  of  immortality  is  one  of  surpass- 
ing interest.  There  are  few  topics  which 
can  more  profitably  engage  our  thoughts, 
for  a  time  at  least,  than  this.  The  vastness  of  the 
theme  almost  appals  us.  The  wide  field  over  which 
it  spreads,  the  numerous  questions  which  present 
themselves,  the  many  problems  seemingly  so  dim- 
cult  which  it  involves,  produce  a  state  of  mind 
which  seeks  relief,  not  always  in  skepticism,  but 
frequently  in  absolute  denial. 

Yet  a  belief  in  the  soul's  immortality  is  the  rule  ; 
doubt  and  denial,  the  exception.  Skeptics  say  that 
there  are  no  proofs.  Believers  assert  that  the  evi- 
dences are  manifold  and  overwhelming.  Infidels 
affirm  that  the  wish  is  father  to  the  thought. 
Christians  declare  that  it  is  an  almost  universal 
sentiment :  true,  because  it  is  inborn ;  not  to  be 
doubted,  because  it  is  a  need  of  human  nature ; 
certain,  because  it  is  a  matter  of  Divine  revelation. 


10          NATURE    \N!)    OHKltN   OT  HEAVEN. 

It  is  sometimes  useless  to  reason.  If  there  is  no 
affirmative  principle  to  appeal  to,  all  argument  is  in 
vain.  If  you  plant  a  seed  in  the  sand,  it  will 
not  grow  for  lack  of  the  proper  nutriment ;  and  if 
you  insinuate  a  spiritual  idea  into  an  irretrievably 
skeptical  mind,  it  will  take  no  root  for  want  of 
proper  soil.  An  inharmonious  mind  does  not  be- 
lieve in  harmony  ;  but  a  musical  nature  believes  in 
melody,  because  every  fibre  thrills  with  its  sweet 
concord.  A  selfish  man  does  not  believe  in  the 
possibility  of  disinterestedness,  nor  a  profligate  in 
virtue.  To  them  these  heavenly  graces  appear  as 
impossibilities.  But  so  far  as  one  is  unselfish,  he 
knows  its  possibility  ;  and  so  far  as  he  is  virtuous, 
he  believes  in  the  reality  of  virtue. 

Why  argue  these  first  principles  of  religion.  They 
are  matters  of  consciousness,  not  of  controversy. 
The  true  follower  of  the  Lord,  110  matter  how  far 
he  may  fall  short  of  the  full  realization  of  his  faith, 
knows  what  he  knows  by  the  necessities  of  his  na- 
ture. He  realizes  revelation  as  the  mathematician 
realizes  the  wonderful  certainty  and  power  of  num- 
bers, as  the  musician  feels  the  force  of  melody,  as 
the  artist  sees  the  beauty  of  art. 

So  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  It  is  a  matter 
of  inspiration,  not  of  argument.  It  comes  by  a  re- 
alization of  one's  nature,  not  by  external  proofs. 
True,  proofs  of  the  future  life  abound  ;  proofs  of 
the  soul's  continued  existence  beyond  this  life,  are 
plentiful  on  every  hand.  Yet  there  are  multitudes 
who,  without  these,  know  of  their  own  immortality, 
because  they  feel  it  as  a  need  of  their  nature.  They 


A   MATTER    OF  REVELATION.  11 

look  around  upon  creation,  and  observe  that  never 
yet  has  God  implanted  an  instinct,  for  the  gratifica- 
tion of  which  He  has  failed  to  provide  the  means  ; 
and  of  all  our  human  instincts,  not  one  is  stronger 
than  the  hope  of  immortality. 

We  do  not,  therefore,  argue  the  immortality  of 
the  soul  here.  We  speak  to  all,  indeed,  but  more 
especially  at  this  time  to  those  whose  nature  so  feels 
its  need  as  to  realize  it  as  a  fact. 

Eevelation  is  replete  with  the  idea  of  a  heaven. 
From  Genesis  to  the  glowing  record  of  the  visions 
of  John,  it  crops  out  here  and  there  even  in  the 
most  literal  sense  of  holy  Writ,  brightening  in 
beauty,  growing  in  grandeur,  developing  in  power, 
until  in  the  Apocalypse  it  bursts  forth  in  a  myste- 
rious glory  which  it  bates  the  breath  to  listen  to. 
We  who  have  wept  amid  this  world's  woes  until  we 
have  grown  weary;  we  who  have  looked  upon  its 
crimes,  its  wars,  its  violence  and  disorders  until  the 
eyes  have  sickened  with  the  sight ;  we  who  greet 
its  misery  and  wretchedness  at  every  corner,  and 
have,  in  our  own  persons,  known  its  disappoint- 
ments, its  sorrows  and  its  vices  ;  even  we  are  called 
upon,  in  the  glowing  words  of  inspiration  and  the 
wonderful  visions  of  men  filled  with  the  spirit  of 
God,  to  lift  our  eyes  from  the  kingdoms  of  earth  to 
the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

The  conditions  of  the  Holy  City  New  Jerusalem 
are  the  revealed  conditions  of  heaven  itself.  For 
what  descends  from  God  out  of  heaven  must  reveal 
the  absolute  nature  of  that  which  exists  in  heaven. 
No  tears  are  there,  no  sorrow,  no  crying,  no  night, 


12          NATURE  AND    ORIGIN   OF  HEAVEN. 

no  pain,  no  death ;  for  the  former  things — the  earthly 
passions,  the  confusion  and  disorder  of  the  world, 
the  soul's  unrest — have  passed  away.  Its  streets 
are  of  gold,  because  all  its  paths  are  love,  the  true 
gold  of  life.  Its  walls  are  of  jasper,  because  the 
Word  of  God  is  the  angel's  wall  of  defence,  translu- 
cent with  the  light  of  Divine  wisdom.  Its  founda- 
tions are  of  all  manner  of  precious  stones,  because 
the  lives  of  its  denizens  are  founded  on  the  precious 
stones  of  truth  laid  down  or  revealed  by  the  Lord 
himself.  Nature's  sun  grows  dark  in  its  beautiful 
light,  for  the  glory  of  God  illumines  its  skies.  The 
throne  of  the  Lord  is  there,  and  from  it  the  river  of 
water  of  life  flows,  and  the  Tree  of  Life  stands  every- 
where in  its  streets,  whose  leaves  heal  all  the  diseases 
of  the  soul. 

Then  the  heart  cries  out  as  it  reads  the  glowing 
page  lit  with  the  Divine  light  of  inspiration — Beau- 
tiful kingdom  of  heaven  !  blest  dwelling-place  of  im- 
mortal souls  !  where  art  thou  ?  what  art  thou  ?  and 
for  whom  were  thy  wondrous  glories  formed  ?  O 
land  of  the  heart  beyond  the  dark  river  !  is  there  a 
home  there  for  me  ?  for  me,  the  weary  and  worn 
with  the  troubles  and  trials  of  earth  ? 

Eevelation  was  never  designed  for  didactic  teach- 
ing, like  the  school-books  of  our  childhood.  It  does 
not  contain  the  history  of  all  religions  with  their 
dates  and  epochs  ;  nor  the  arithmetic  of  the  soul 
with  its  faculties  and  powers  labeled  and  numbered, 
and  with  easy  rules  for  the  multiplication  of  its  vir- 
tues ;  nor  the  geography  arid  climatology  of  heaven 
with  a  catalogue  of  its  chief  products  and  the  com- 


HEAVEN  A   STATE,  NOT  A   PLACE.  13 

mercial  value  of  its  imports  and  exports.  How  man 
will  persist  in  mistaking  the  spirit  and  intent  of  the 
holy  Word ! 

The  sayings  of  the  Bible  are,  on  the  contrary,  like 
so  many  seeds  of  truth  dropped  into  the  soil  of 
human  minds,  there  to  germinate  and  grow.  They 
grow  as  we  give  them  life  within  the  heart ;  they 
germinate  as  we  warm  them  with  love  ;  they  spring 
from  the  cold,  damp  earth,  and  rise  into  the  sunny 
atmosphere  of  heart-land,  as  the  tears  of  life,  instead 
of  flowing  off  into  desert  sands,  water  them  and 
start  them  into  greener  growth. 

The  Word  of  God  does  not,  therefore,  teach  us 
many  facts  in  regard  to  heaven  ;  but  it  gives  us  in- 
numerable seed-germs  of  truth,  which  will  grow  into 
immense  heart  realizations  of  its  nature  as  we  grow 
toward  heaven  and  the  Lord. 

Let  us  see.  The  first  great  truth  of  Eevelation 
that  comes  from  a  close  examination  of  its  pages, 
is :  That  heaven  is  a  state  of  the  soul  and  not  a 
place.  It  is  a  condition  of  the  heart  and  not  a 
locality.  Let  us  endeavor  to  fully  comprehend  this. 
There  is  no  understanding  this  question  of  salvation, 
eternal  life,  and  heaven  without  it.  It  is  the  golden 
thread  that  leads  us  through  all  the  labyrinths  of 
what  is  otherwise  so  puzzling  a  theme.  Heaven 
may  indeed  be  in  a  place — in  any  place  ;  but  it  is 
the  hearts  of  the  people  and  not  the  place  that  make 
it  heaven.  It  is  the  Lord's  sphere  or  influence  with- 
in the  soul  which  constitutes  all  that  can  be  prop- 
erly recognized  as  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

STor  is  this  very  difficult  to  understand.  When 
2 


14          NATURE  AND    ORIGIN  OF  HEAVEN. 

our  Lord,  at  the  beginning  of  his  active  ministry, 
said,  "Repent,  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand," 
He  made  no  allusion  to  any  remote  locality,  any 
planet,  star,  or  sun  coming  into  proximity  with  the 
earth  ;  but  He  referred  to  the  coming  power  of  Chris- 
tian truth  and  righteousness.  When  He  declared 
to  the  scribe  who  answered  Him  so  discreetly,  "Thou 
art  not  far  from  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  He  had  no 
reference  to  his  nearness  to  any  particular  place,  but 
to  a  heavenly  state  of  mind.  And  when  He  was  de- 
manded of  the  Pharisees  concerning  the  coming  of 
the  kingdom  of  God,  He  answered,  "  The  kingdom 
of  God  cometh  not  with  observation.  Neither  shall 
they  say,  Lo  here  !  or  Lo  there !  for  behold,  the 
kingdom  of  God  is  within  you!  "  Now,  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  and  the  kingdom  of  God  mean  the 
same  thing.  This  is  evident  from  the  fact  that,  in 
several  instances,  in  relating  the  same  event,  one 
evangelist  quotes  Jesus  as  using  the  expression 
kingdom  of  heaven,  and  another  that  of  kingdom  of 
God.  As  notice  the  Beatitude,  which,  as  given  by 
Matthew,  reads,  "  Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit,  for 
theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  "f  But  in  Luke, 
we  read,  "  Blessed  are  ye  poor,  for  yours  is  the 
kingdom  of  God."*  Paul  expressed  the  truth  in 
happy  phrase  when  he  said  to  the  Romans,  "The 
kingdom  of  God  is  not  meat  and  drink,  but  righteous- 
ness and  peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost."  J  Pu- 
rity, peace,  religion,  the  Lord's  spirit  within  the  soul 
— these  constitute  heaven  there. 

*  Luke  vi.  20.  f  Matt.  v.  3.  J  Rom.  xiv.  17. 


HEAVEN  IN  THE  SOUL.  15 

Beautiful  thought  I  We  need  not  leave  this  earth 
to  enter  heaven.  Heaven  is  within  us.  God's  king- 
dom is  right  here.  When  we  are  heavenly  minded, 
we  carry  it  about  with  us.  Wherever  we  go,  wher- 
ever we  stay,  we  are  in  heaven.  It  is  part  of  us  ;  it 
is  inwoven  into  the  very  tissues  of  our  heing.  Just 
as  the  summer  blue  is  inwoven  into  the  make-up  of 
the  sky,  as  the  lovely  light  into  the  brilliancy  of  the 
morning,  as  beauty  into  the  very  existence  of  the 
flower,  so  heaven  becomes  the  constituent  organiza- 
tion of  the  soul.  It  is  its  life  and  beauty  ;  it  is  its 
happiness  and  joy  ;  it  is  its  work  and  reward.  It  is 
ours  wherever  we  are.  It  descends  into  the  offices 
of  the  hands ;  it  thrills  the  thoughts  with  nobler 
life  ;  it  loves  through  all  our  affections  ;  it  makes  of 
us  men,  not  beasts ;  and  it  glows  with  the  living 
spirit  of  God. 

Our  Lord  never  spoke  of  heaven  as  something 
remote  from  us.  But  He  often  alluded  to  it  as  some- 
thing that  could  be  preached,  something  that  could 
come  nigh  unto  us,  something  within  us.  The  idea 
of  the  external  heavens  has,  in  the  grossly  natural 
minds  of  men,  taken  the  place  of  the  thought  evolved 
in  the  Word  of  God.  That  the  ancients,  in  the  be- 
lief that  the  sky  was  a  solid  brazen  firmament, 
should  have  placed  the  abode  of  the  immortals  upon 
its  upper  surface,  and  have  confounded  the  starry 
heavens  of  nature  with  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
preached  by  Christ,  is  not  to  be  wondered  at.  But 
that  any  at  this  day  should  make  a  mistake  akin 
to  that,  is,  indeed,  surprising. 

Let  us  reiterate  it ;  let  us  repeat  it  again   and 


16          NATURE  AND    ORIGIN  OF  HEAVEN. 

again  until  it  is  thoroughly  grooved  into  the  mind  ; 
that  heaven  is  within  us.  All  its  first  principles  are 
there  ;  all  its  outcomes  flow  from  them.  The  word 
heaven  is  derived  from  one  that  signifies  high.  What- 
ever is  high,  lofty,  elevated — in  desire,  in  thought, 
in  aspiration,  in  purpose — that  is  heaven  within. 
Our  Lord  came  into  the  world  for  the  express  pur- 
pose of  elevating  the  human  mind,  then  so  thoroughly 
debased ;  of  ennobling  the  human  character,  then  so 
miserably  degraded.  He  preached  repentance  ;  He 
preached  regeneration ;  He  preached  self-abnega- 
tion— love  to  God  and  man.  In  doing  this  He 
preached  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  When  He  found 
those  who  did  his  commandments  and  lived  near 
to  the  spirit  of  his  law,  He  said  that  they  were  not 
far  from  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Of  the  humble 
in  spirit,  and  of  those  who  were  persecuted  because 
of  their  righteousness,  He  said,  "  Theirs  is  the  king- 
dom of  heaven.  "*  It  was  not  a  thing  of  the  future  ; 
it  was  a  thing  of  the  present.  It  was  not  a  reward 
to  come,  but  an  existing  condition  of  the  heart.  It 
was  not,  "  theirs  will  6e,"  but  "theirs  is  the  king- 
dom of  heaven."  And  when  He  summed  up  the 
qualifications  of  those  who  were  the  blessed  of  the 
earth,  the  blessing  was  not  of  the  future  but  of  the 
present ;  it  was  not  u  Blessed  will  ye  6e,"  but  it  was 
"  Blessed  are  ye;"  and  He  did  not  add  as  the  great 
incentive  to  religious  life,  "Great  shall  be  your  re- 
ward in  heaven,"  but  "Great  is  your  reward  in 
heaven,  "t  Heaven  was  a  present  thing;  heaven 
was  within  them. 

*Matt.  v.  3,10.  tMatt- v-  12« 


IN  THE  ATMOSPHERE  OF  INNOCENCE.       17 

This  is  not  difficult  to  comprehend.  Its  begin- 
nings and  some  of  its  developments  are  frequently 
perceived  and  recognized.  You  go  into  an  assembly 
of  innocent  little  children;  you  observe  them  at 
their  sports ;  you  hear  their  songs  ascend,  imperfect 
though  they  be,  with  childish  melody.  There  is 
always  a  feeling  of  nearness  to  heaven  in  the  gath- 
erings of  little  children,  because  the  sphere  of  inno- 
cence prevails ;  and  innocence  is  one  of  the  con- 
stituent principles  of  heaven. 

Go  where  you  please— wherever  circumstances 
and  surroundings  lift  up  your  hearts  and  thoughts, 
so  that  you  are  carried  away,  as  it  were,  from  self 
and  sensual  things,  from  worldly  cares  and  worries, 
into  a  region  of  mental  peace  and  quietness,  and 
there  pervades  your  spirit  a  feeling  of  forgiveness 
to  men  and  love  for  all,  when  your  passions  are  at 
rest  and  a  gentle  calm  is  on  the  soul,  and  you  will 
be  very  apt  to  describe  your  feelings  by  the  excla- 
mation, "  I  felt  as  though  I  were  in  heaven  !  "  And 
you  were.  But  because  you  were  educated  to  be- 
lieve in  heaven  as  a  place  beyond  the  skies,  in  sun 
or  moon  or  stars,  or  perhaps  on  earth  when  the  mil- 
lennial fires  shall  have  purified  it  ages  hence,  you  did 
not  know  where  you  were.  But,  let  us  learn  this  ; 
that  gentleness  and  peace  of  soul  and  rest  of  spirit 
and  elevation  above  sensual  thoughts  and  the  quiet- 
ing of  earthly  passions  and  disinterested  neighborly 
love  constitute  the  essence  of  heaven.  Heaven  is 
of  the  spirit,  and  all  places  are  heaven  when  the 
soul  is  in  a  heavenly  state. 

Or  perhaps  you  have  been  in  a  family  where  recip- 
2*  B 


18          NATURE  AND    ORIGIN  OF  HEAVEN. 

rocal  forbearance  and  mutual  love  have  made  the 
manners  gentle  and  softened  the  harshness  of  the 
voice ;  where  neatness  and  order  prevail,  and  method 
makes  work  easy  ;  where  all  devote  themselves  to 
the  happiness  of  each,  and  each  to  that  of  all ; 
where  even  amusements  become  a  source  of  mutual 
conciliation  and  love  ;  where  the  tastes  are  refined, 
and  where  religion  without  fanaticism  sits  by  the 
hearthstone  and  reigns  throughout  the  house.  You 
will  return  from  a  visit  to  such  a  family  and  say, 
u  That  home  is  a  perfect  little  heaven."  It  is  a 
heaven.  It  needs  no  millennial  fire  to  make  it  so.  It 
is  a  heaven  to-day,  because  all  the  virtues  ruling 
there  are  the  very  essence  of  heaven.  The  hearts 
that  cherish  them  have  built  a  heaven  there. 

Then,  imagine  this  Divine  spirit  and  these  holy 
principles  carried  into  all  the  offices  of  the  world. 
Let  each  man  in  society  subordinate  his  selfhood  to 
the  general  good  ;  make  sincerity  the  law  of  social 
life  ;  eliminate  from  toil  its  vulgarity  ;  from  mercan- 
tile life  its  dishonor  ;  from  the  bench  its  corruption ; 
from  politics  its  selfish  ambition  ;  from  the  church 
its  bigotry  ;  from  capital  its  greed  ;  from  all  things 
whatever  is  contrary  to  Christ's  code  of  ethics,  and 
earth  would  be  a  heaven  without  any  approximation 
toward  the  stars.  For  where  good  and  God  reign 
triumphant,  there  we  behold  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

But  do  not  understand  me  as  calling  in  question 
the  existence  of  a  heaven  beyond  the  grave — of  a 
future  state  of  being  so  denominated  in  Scripture. 
As  revelation  is  true,  so  that  is  true.  It  is  reiterated 
a  hundred  times,  and  breathes  through  all  its  pages, 


IN   THE  REALMS  ABOVE.  19 

and  exists  as  a  necessary  corollary  to  every  evan- 
gelic truth.  But  this  is  the  point :  its  essence  is  in 
the  heart,  and  there  is  a  heaven  hereafter,  not  be- 
cause God  has  created  a  locality  in  space  which  has 
been  so  named,  but  because  earth  throws  from  her 
restless  bosom  each  year  and  day,  souls  more  or  less 
charged  with  the  principles  and  spirit  of  heaven. 
These  congregate  in  the  future  world.  They  are 
drawn  together  there  by  the  force  of  spiritual  attrac- 
tion ;  they  are  bound  by  the  ties  of  mutual  affinity  ; 
and  wherever  heavenly  hearts  go,  in  this  world  or 
the  world  beyond,  there  heaven  exists. 

Heaven,  therefore,  is  the  state  and  condition  of  the 
good.  In  the  realms  above,  it  exists  because  of  the 
goodness  of  those  there.  The  sphere  of  love  flows 
from  each  to  all  and  from  all  to  each.  They  unite 
in  a  sphere  of  love  to  God  and  mutual  love.  Self 
has  been  dethroned.  Each,  forgetful  of  self,  seeks 
only  the  good  and  the  happiness  of  others.  Conse- 
quently the  happiness  and  good  of  all  are  marvel- 
ously  subserved.  Justice  prevails  ;  right  reigns  tri- 
umphant ;  no  one  calls  them  in  question.  Anger  is 
unknown ;  malice  is  never  seen ;  slander  is  never 
heard  ;  sensuality  has  no  part  in  its  joys.  The  com- 
mandments of  God  are  the  laws  of  society ;  the  spirit 
of  Christ  rests  within  all  hearts ;  and  love  of  the 
virtues  which  Christianity  teaches  and  stands  for,  is 
the  authority  by  which  their  obedience  is  enforced. 

The  origin  of  heaven  is  therefore  in  the  hearts  of 
earth.  It  is  in  the  cultivation  of  the  spirit  and 
commandments  of  the  Lord,  the  bringing  them  forth 
into  daily  life,  and  the  consequent  reduction  of  the 


20         NATURE  AND    ORIGIN   OF  HEAVEN. 

affairs  of  life,  domestic,  social,  industrial,  commer- 
cial and  political,  to  that  state  of  tranquillity,  order, 
justice,  honesty  and  love,  toward  which  the  com- 
mandments of  God  plainly  point.  It  is  the  faithful 
observance  of  these  commandments  on  earth,  that 
builds  the  mansions  of  heaven  above.  As  one  of 
England's  poets  says : 

"  Angels  are  men  of  a  superior  kind ; 
Angels  are  men  in  lighter  habit  clad, 
High  o'er  celestial  mountains  winged  in  flight; 
And  men  are  angels  loaded  for  an  hour, 
AVho  wade  this  miry  vale,  and  climb,  with  pain 
And  slippery  step,  the  bottom  of  the  steep." — Young. 

The  idea  that  heaven  was  formed  from  a  race  of 
beings  called  angels,  created  long  before  our  world 
began  to  exist,  is  a  tradition  and  a  myth.  It  has 
been  sustained  only  by  the  wrenching  of  a  few  pas- 
sages of  Scripture  from  their  true  meaning.  All 
Scripture  allusion  to  angels  gives  them  the  form  and 
attributes  of  men.  Moses  and  Elias,  who  were  seen 
on  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration,  had  been  men. 
The  angel  who  announced  to  John,  "I  am  thy  fel- 
low-servant, and  of  thy  brethren  the  prophets,"* 
was  clearly  one  of  the  old  Jewish  prophets  now  be-- 
come  an  angel.  The  great  multitude  of  all  nations 
and  kindreds  and  people  and  tongues,  who  were  seen 
l>y  John  standing  before  the  throne  of  God,  f- were 
angels  who  had  once  been  men,  gathered  from  all 
the  regions  of  the  earth.  And  not  only  does  all 
Scripture  favor  the  idea  that  angels  are  beings  who 

*  Rev.  xxii.  9.  f  Rev.  vii.  9. 


THE  SEMJNARY  OF  HEAVEN.  21 

had  once  been  men,  but  it  repeatedly  calls  them  men. 
The  three  who  appeared  to  Abraham,  the  two  who 
made  themselves  manifest  to  Lot,  the  one  who  wres- 
tled with  Jacob  at  Peniel,  the  angel-captain  of  the 
Lord's  host  who  appeared  to  Joshua  at  Jericho,  all 
the  angels  who  appeared  to  Ezekiel,  the  two  who 
were  seen  in  shining  garments  at  the  sepulchre,  and 
many  others  too  numerous  to  mention,  are  referred 
to  as  men  and  are  so  denominated. 

Earth  is  the  seminary  of  angels,  and  heaven  has 
its  origin  here.  The  Scripture  tells  us  so.  I  say 
this,  of  course,  only  in  the  sense  that  human  beings 
are  born  on  earth  as  the  nursery  of  heaven :  that 
they  are  placed  here  first,  in  order  that  they  may 
begin,  as  all  things  begin,  from  the  egg,  the  seed, 
the  first  germ  of  existence,  and  grow  by  gradual 
unfoldings  and  iucreasings  into  the  perfect  life  for 
which  they  were  destined.  Were  there  no  earth, 
there  would  be  no  heaven,  because  there  would  be 
no  births  of  children  born  to  become  men  and 
women,  and  destined,  if  they  will,  to  become  angels. 

But  in  a  higher  sense,  in  the  real  and  true  sense, 
the  Lord  is  the  origin  of  heaven.  He  is  so,  because 
He  is  the  origin  of  all  that  is  true  and  good.  The 
Gospel  doctrine  of  regeneration  is  hardly  appreci- 
ated by  us  in  its  proper  meaning.  Christians  often 
assent  to  it  without  realizing  the  genuine  truth.  It 
is  in  too  many  instances  a  verbal  assent,  rather  than 
a  comprehended  idea  or  a  realized  fact.  When  our 
Lord  says,  uHe  that  abideth  in  me,  and  I  in  him, 
the  same  bringeth  forth  much  fruit,"45'  He  states  a 

*  John  xv.  5. 


22          NATURE  AND    ORIGIN  OF  HEAVEN. 

positive  fact  and  uses  no  metaphor.  When  He  says, 
"  Without  me,  ye  can  do  nothing,"  He  means  that 
there  must,  in  some  sense,  be  an  indwelling  of  Him- 
self in  the  human  soul,  which  gives  to  it  all  its  spir- 
itual life,  germination  and  growth.  Without  this, 
we  cannot  think  a  true  thought  nor  do  a  good  act ; 
nor  can  we  love  Him  or  any  one,  or  even  compre- 
hend the  first  principles  of  true  religious  life.  His 
indwelling  is  an  actual  one,  and  it  is  by  means  of 
his  Hoty  Spirit,  When  He  communicated  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  his  disciples  according  to  previous  prom- 
ise, u  He  breathed  on  them,  and  said,  Receive  ye 
the  Holy  Spirit."*  This  may  be  compared  to  the 
dwelling  of  the  sun  in  the  bosom  of  the  earth  and 
in  its  atmospheres.  The  sun,  as  it  were,  breathes 
forth  its  light  and  heat,  which  enter  the  atmos- 
pheres and  substances  of  the  earth,  and  furnish  the 
quickening  powers  or  means  of  growth  to  all  that 
exists  upon  its  surface. 

The  Lord  is  often  compared  to  the  sun  in  Scrip- 
ture. Let  us,  then,  think  of  the  All-father  as  sur- 
rounded by  the  spiritual  sun,  whence  continually 
radiate  love  and  wisdom,  the  warmth  and  light  of 
the  soul,  which  are  indeed  Himself,  and  which  enter 
the  spirit  and  dwell  there.  These  become  its  quick- 
ening life.  If  a  truth  enters  the  mind  seemingly 
from  without,  they  light  it  up  to  our  comprehen- 
sion. If  that  truth  discloses  the  path  of  wisdom 
and  right,  they  warm  the  heart  to  love  it,  they  give 
the  strength  to  live  it,  they  give  the  force  to  act  it 

*  John  xx.  22. 


THE  ALL   IN  ALL    OF  HEAVEN.  23 

out  on  the  natural  plane  of  life.  Under  their  influ- 
ence the  heart  expands,  the  mind  grows,  the  spirit- 
ual understanding  quickens,  the  holier  love  develops. 
True,  the  man  is  in  freedom  to  reject  this  Divine 
light  and  life.  He  can  turn  from  it  and  shut  the 
door  of  mind  and  heart  against  its  influences.  But 
if  he  co-operates,  if  he  places  himself  in  a  position 
to  receive  them,  if  he  grasps  the  means  which  God 
affords,  he  goes  on  conquering  and  to  conquer  in  the 
battle  of  life. 

The  Lord,  therefore,  is  the  true  origin  of  heaven. 
He  furnishes  the  wisdom,  the  good,  the  force,  the 
holy  power,  which  make  the  heavens.  Man's  soul 
is  the  mediate  origin,  as  being  the  plane  of  its 
human  commencement  and  the  field  of  its  growth. 
Earth  is  the  theatre  of  its  beginnings,  as  here  its 
first  operations  and  growths  are  brought  into  play. 
But  the  region  of  immortal  bliss  beyond  the  grave 
is  its  final,  its  fullest  and  grandest  field  of  action. 

Is  there  no  lesson  in  this  ?  Are  there  no  duties 
here  enjoined  ?  Are  we  not  doing  most,  each  in  his 
little  sphere,  to  build  our  mansions  above,  by  mak- 
ing a  heaven  of  every  theatre  of  action  here  below  ? 
Go,  then,  brethren,  each  one  of  you,  to  your  own. 
field  of  action.  Go  to  your  family,  enter  into  your 
social  circle,  work  at  your  trade,  perform  the  duties 
of  your  office,  and  put  heaven  into  them.  Thrust 
your  selfhood  aside  and  put  your  neighbor's  good  in 
the  first  place.  That  is  the  way  to  find  heaven. 
You  need  no  wings  to  carry  you  there.  Do  not  be 
ever  praying  for  the  rewards  of  heaven  at  some 
future  time.  Make  your  heaven  here,  or  you  will 


24          NATURE  AND    ORIGIN  OF  HEAVEN. 

surely  lose  it  hereafter.  If  you  cannot  see  much  of 
it  around  you,  see  to  it  that  it  is  built  up  within 
your  own  soul.  You  can  be  certain  of  heaven  in  no 
other  way. 

And  rest  assured  that  what  you  do  not  acquire  in 
your  spirit  here,  you  cannot  carry  with  you  to  the 
world  beyond.  For  spirit,  not  flesh,  rises  into  the 
eternal  land.  And  if  you  do  not  carry  from  here  a 
heaven  in  your  heart,  that  heart  will  never  find  a 
heaven  in  any  spot  in  all  the  realms  of  future  life. 
Give  up  all  worrying  about  your  salvation  hereafter. 
What  you  want  is  salvation  in  this  world  ;  that  in 
the  world  to  come  will  follow  as  a  matter  of  course. 
The  truth  of  Christ  lived  out  upon  the  field  of  active 
life  and  duty,  will  save  you ;  his  life  received  into 
the  soul  as  your  source  of  strength  and  growth,  will 
save  you ;  but  his  literal  blood  and  death,  never ! 
Your  salvation  is  here;  your  entrance  into  heaven 
is  here  ;  your  life  is  here  ;  your  heaven  itself  is  here, 
if  you  will  but  have  it  so.  It  is  in  your  heart,  your 
desire,  your  thought,  your  motive,  your  purpose, 
your  activity,  your  life,  your  works.  And  as  you 
acquire  heaven  here,  so  only  will  you  know  it,  and 
find  it,  and  enjoy  it,  and  love  it,  in  the  world  to 
come. 


II. 

THE  TWO  RESURRECTIONS. 

HATEYER  primitive  Christianity  may  have 
keen>  m°dern  theology,  it  must  be  conceded, 
is  a  compromise  between  Christianity  and 
Paganism.  When  the  new  religion  began  to  become 
wide-spread  and  popular,  then  by  degrees  its  sim- 
plicity faded  away.  Under  Paul  and  the  other  apos- 
tles harmonious  and  united,  soon  the  church  became 
discordant,  soon  broken  into  belligerent  factions. 
The  self-sacrificing  spirit  of  the  aposttes  gave  way 
to  the  domineering  temper  of  a  new  race  of  priests. 
Then  a  desire  to  extend  the  sway  of  the  priesthood, 
took  the  place  of  the  former  love  of  diffusing  the 
spirit  of  the  gospel.  Pagan  Europe  refusing  to  ac- 
cept the  pure  doctrine  and  self-sacrificing  life  of 
Christianity,  a  crusade  was  inaugurated  for  the 
triumph  of  its  name  and  outward  baptism.  If  Pagan 
gods  had  anniversary  days  devoted  to  their  peculiar 
worship,  those  days  were  accepted  in  the  Christian 
scheme,  and  employed  to  commemorate  events  in 
the  life  of  Christ,  for  the  purpose  of  rendering  Chris- 
tianity more  acceptable.  If  Pagan  priests  wore  at 
their  services  gaudy  vestments  to  please  the  wonder- 
ing eyes  of  the  vulgar,  the  Christian  priests  adopted 
them.  If  there  existed  popular  Pagan  theories,  the 
ingrafting  of  which  on  the  doctrines  of  Christ  would 
form  a  scheme  which  might  be  termed  "  Christianity 
3  25 


26  THE   TWO  RESURRECTIONS. 

made  easy, "  they  were  so  ingrafted.  Then  this  bold 
or  that  bad  man  who  had  within  him  more  of  the 
love  of  dominion  than  the  love  of  Christ,  set  up 
his  peculiar  engraftment  or  dogma  or  theory  as  the 
essential  thing  in  Christianity,  in  order  to  have  a 
watchword  for  the  gathering  of  followers  and  the 
gaining  of  a  large  backing  to  hoist  him  into  eccle- 
siastical power.  The  doctrinal  terms  of  Christianity 
were  construed  by  each  ecclesiastical  high-place 
hunter  to  suit  himself.  If  argument  would  not  carry 
the  day,  as  it  seldom  did,  blows  were  resorted  to. 
The  sword  became  the  most  popular  argument 
known  to  this  pseudo-Christianity.  The  strongest 
arm  settled  the  question  as  to  which  or  what  was 
the  purest  doctrine.  This  process  was  applied  to 
an  innumerable  number  of  disputed  topics,  in  which 
all  questions  of  Christian  doctrine  became  inextri- 
cably involved,  until  at  last  the  most  important 
were  settled  by  compromise  in  general  council,  and 
the  mailed  hand  of  an  utterly  unprincipled  Roman 
emperor  enforced  that  compromise  on  the  Christian 
world.  And  this  mixture  has,  in  its  main  features, 
come  down  to  our  day  as  orthodox  Christianity  and 
evangelical  faith. 

This  is  not  mere  assertion.  It  is  history ;  and 
every  one  may  read  it  for  himself.  Nor  is  it  aside 
from  our  subject.  It  is  a  protest  against  accepting 
any  generally  received  theological  opinion  or  defi- 
nition, merely  because  it  is  generally  received,  or 
because  it  is  old.  The  heathenish  spirit  of  the 
middle  ages  does  not,  of  necessity,  give  to  definition 
or  doctrine  the  flavor  of  truth. 


SENSUOUS  DOCTRINE   OF  THE  JEWS.        27 

The  doctrine  of  the  Kesurrection  as  usually  re- 
ceived, may  be  old ;  but  that  does  not  necessarily 
make  it  true.  It  may  have  come  down  to  us  crys- 
tallized into  a  certain  form,  but  that  is  no  argument 
in  favor  of  its  correctness.  There  is  a  resurrection. 
Christ  taught  it ;  the  apostles  preached  it.  One 
sect,  at  least,  of  the  Jews  believed  in  it  before  the 
time  of  Christ.  The  Jewish  resurrection  was,  how- 
ever, that  of  the  material  body,  and  at  a  future  judg- 
ment day.  But  Christ  did  not  so  teach  it,  nor  did 
the  apostles  so  preach  it.  Yet  either  through  the 
mixture  of  Judaism  with  Christianity,  or  the  effort 
to  pander  to  Judaic  paganism  for  the  sake  of  prose- 
lytes, that  sensuous  conception,  after  the  time  of 
the  apostles,  became  incorporated  into  the  Chris- 
tian system,  formed  part  of  the  heterogeneous  com- 
promise afterwards  made,  and  has  held  its  own  ever 
since. 

We  must  therefore  go  back  to  the  gospels  if  we 
would  learn  the  truth  concerning  the  resurrection. 
And  we  may  add  to  this  the  testimony  of  Paul,  if 
we  would  know  how  the  doctrine  was  held  in  the 
Apostolic  church.  The  creeds  of  the  sects  will  not 
serve  us  here  ;  they  have  too  much  of  the  flavor  of 
the  period  when  the  new  religion  was  in  a  very  un- 
settled state.  And  it  is  safer  even  to  go  back  to  the 
original  term  used  in  the  Gospels,  than  to  trust  to 
the  word  resurrection,  which  is  the  term  used  in 
translating  the  original  Greek.  This  has  acquired 
a  theological  meaning  of  which  it  is  not  easy  to 
divest  our  minds. 

The  original  Greek  term  of  the  New  Testament, 


28  THE   TWO  RESURRECTIONS. 

translated  resurrection,  is  anastasis.  It  is  derived 
from  the  verb  anistcmi,  to  cause  to  stand  up.  It 
does  not  mean,  to  arise  in  the  sense  of  floating  up- 
wards. No  such  signification  attaches  to  the  word. 
It  does  not  mean  a  resuscitation  of  anything  literally 
dead.  The  Greeks  never  so  understood  or  applied 
it.  But  it  was  used  as  in  such  instances  as  that 
where  Matthew,  who  was  sitting  at  the  receipt  of 
custom,  arose  and  followed  Jesus  ;  that  is,  stood  up 
and  followed  Him.  "When,  therefore,  we  are  con- 
struing Scripture,  where  this  term  resurrection,  or 
anastasis,  occurs,  we  get  the  exact  meaning  by  think- 
ing of  it,  not  as  of  something  dead  coming  to  life, 
which  it  does  not  mean— nor  as  of  a  vivified  dead 
body  rising  and  floating  off  to  the  skies,  which  also 
it  does  not  mean ;  but  as  of  something  alive  that 
has  been  sitting  or  lying  down,  bent,  or  prone,  now 
standing  up. 

Our  Lord  used  this  term,  therefore,  as  He  used 
all  terms,  because  it  expressed  just  what  He  meant. 
He  desired  to  set  forth  a  new  idea.  True,  the  Jews 
(or  some  of  them)  believed  in  a  resurrection  of  the 
body  ;  but  He  desired  to  teach  the  resurrection  of 
the  spirit— the  real  man.  True,  they  believed  in 
this  event  as  one  that  was  to  happen  at  a  future 
judgment  day  ;  but  He  desired  to  teach  it  as  an 
event  transpiring  now.  What,  then,  did  He  mean 
by  the  anastasis  or  resurrection  ?  Evidently  this  : 
that  while  at  death  the  body  would  descend  to  the 
dust  from  whence  it  was  taken,  would  decay,  die, 
in  the  sense  of  the  absolute  dissolution  and  diffusion 


THE   CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINE.  29 

of  its  particles,  the  soul  would  stand  up  in  the  pleni- 
tude of  its  power  as  the  real  immortal  man. 

The  expression  was  an  apt  one.  All  the  forces 
of  the  soul  are,  during  its  residence  in  the  body,  bent 
down,  as  it  were,  toward  the  earth.  The  spirit 
looks  down  into  the  world  through  its  bodily  eyes, 
and  bends  down  to  listen  to  the  sounds  of  the  world 
through  its  bodily  ears.  Every  mental  faculty,  for 
the  sake  of  the  soul's  life,  by  means  of  its  earthly 
body  leads  toward  the  world.  The  very  fact  of 
living  in  a  material  body  concentrates  its  thoughts 
and  efforts  in  that  direction.  But  when  at  death 
the  spirit  is  released  from  the  body,  it  eeases  to  bend 
its  faculties  and  efforts  down  toward  the  world,  and 
stands  up  in  its  own  congenial  realm.  This  is  the 
anastasis,  the  standing  up,  the  resurrection. 

But  to  comprehend  this  fully,  we  must  under- 
stand that  man  is  a  two-fold  being.  He  is  body 
and  soul,  or  body  and  spirit.  The  soul  or  spirit  is 
the  real  man ;  the  body  is  the  material  garment  it 
puts  on  for  the  purposes  of  its  earth-life.  Spirit 
and  matter  are  different,  separated  by  discrete 
degrees.  Spirit  is  not  matter,  nor  is  it  material ; 
any  more  than  water  is  earth  or  earthy  ;  any  more 
than  earth  is  air  or  ethereal.  To  present  the  chem- 
ical difference  between  the  two  is  not  our  purpose, 
nor  is  it  in  our  power.  But  the  fact  remains ;  as 
water  is  a  distinct  element  from  earth,  and  earth 
from  air,'  so  is  spirit  a  distinct  thing  from  all  of  them, 
and  from  all  that  is  material.  But  that  does  not 
render  it  less  perfect,  less  alive,  or  less  potential  ; 
but  more  so.  For  on  the  principle  that  what  pro- 
3* 


30  THE   TWO  RESURRECTIONS. 

pels  is  more  powerful  than  the  thing  propelled,  that 
what  moves  is  more  alive  than  the  thing  moved,  so 
spirit  is  more  alive  than  matter.  A  ship  of  itself  is 
a  dead  thing  compared  with  the  wind  which  propels 
it.  The  iron  body  and  bolts  of  the  engine  are  very 
inert  and  powerless  compared  with  the  steam  which 
nerves  them  with  giant  strength.  So  the  human 
body  of  itself  is  inert  matter  compared  with  the 
spirit  which  fills  it  with  life  and  power. 

Now  if  spirit  gives  to  body  all  the  life  and  power 
it  has,  it  must  itself  be  much  alive  and  very  power- 
ful. And  that  the  spirit  is  the  life  and  power  of  the 
body  is  manifest  from  the  fact,  that  when  it  is  with- 
drawn at  death,  the  body  becomes  powerless  and 
dead.  And  if  the  spirit  is  the  body's  life  and  power, 
it  also  causes  and  preserves  the  body's  peculiar 
form.  The  body  has  eyes  for  the  spirit  to  see 
through  ;  ears  for  the  spirit  to  hear  through  ;  arms 
and  hands  for  the  spirit  to  do  its  destined  work 
with ;  feet  to  enable  it  to  walk  whithersoever  the 
spirit  may  determine  ;  brains  to  be  the  material 
abode  of  the  spirit  from  whence  it  may  send  its 
messages  and  orders  all  through  the  body-man  to 
its  very  eyelids,  fingers  and  toes. 

There  is  a  material-man,  and  a  spirit-man  within 
the  material ;  and  the  spirit  is  more  a  man  than 
the  body.  The  spirit  is  the  real  man,  while  the 
body  is  but  the  machine  man.  Did  you  ever  exam- 
ine a  school-book  on  physiology,  where  the  different 
systems  that  make  up  a  man  are  separately  set  forth 
in  wood-cut  illustrations  ?  There  is  the  bony  sys- 
tem ;  it  pervades  the  whole  man,  and,  depicted  alone 


THE  SPIRIT  IS   THE  REAL  MAN.  31 

as  a  skeleton,  it  is  in  the  form  of  a  man.  There  is 
the  arterial  or  venous  system  ;  it  also  pervades  the 
entire  man,  and  pictured  by  itself  is  in  the  form  of 
a  man.  There  is  the  nervous  system  ;  it  again  per- 
meates the  entire  frame,  and  its  pictured  represen- 
tation is  a  man.  So  with  the  fleshly  or  muscular 
system.  Now,  do  you  not  believe  that  the  same  is 
true  of  the  spiritual  system  ?  that,  could  it  be  faith- 
fully pictured,  it  would  be  found  to  pervade  the 
whole  bodily  frame  ?  and  that  this  is  the  cause  of 
all  the  vitality,  power  and  activity  of  the  material 
system  ?  that  the  living  force  of  it  all  pervaded  and 
filled  it,  lay  close  to  every  nerve  and  muscle  and 
fibre,  acted  upon  it  from  within  and  forced  it  every- 
where to  do  its  bidding  ?  that  spirit  eyes  saw  into 
the  world  through  eyes  of  flesh  and  nerve  and 
artery  ?  that  spirit  hands  worked  in  the  world 
through  hands  of  bone  and  sinew  ?  that  spirit  feet 
walked  through  the  world  and  bore  their  master 
whither  he  would,  through  feet  of  muscle,  bone, 
and  tendon  ?  The  spirit,  then,  is  a  man.  It  must 
have  form,  or  it  could  not  possess  power.  And  what 
can  this  form  be  but  the  human  form  ? 

And  when  the  spirit  has  used  the  body  long 
enough  ;  when  it  has  done  its  allotted  work  on  the 
plane  of  earthly  life ;  when  the  machine  has  become 
worn  out  and  incapable  of  doing  longer  its  master's 
bidding,  whether  through  outward  violence,  disease 
or  old  age  ;  when  the  spirit  and  its  material  vesture 
are  separated,  and  the  body  returns  to  the  dust 
from  whence  it  came  ;  then  the  spirit  stands  up  in  its 
own  sphere,  on  its  own  plane  of  life,  a  perfect  man, 


32  THE   TWO  RESURRECTIONS. 

grown,  developed,  and  perfected  through  its  earth- 
life  and  work  and  experience,  ready  to  live  a  new 
life  on  its  new  plane  of  being.  This  is  its  anastasis, ; 
this  is  its  resurrection. 

And  this  the  Scripture  teaches  ;  not  indeed  in  the 
words  of  the  illustrations  I  have  here  used,  but  in 
principle  and  in  fact. 

That  the  natural  body  does  not  rise,  was  unques- 
tionably believed  by  the  apostles  ;  and  by  Paul  it 
is  plainly  declared.  Referring  to  the  resurrection, 
he  says:  "But  some  will  say,  How  are  the  dead 
raised  up  ?  and  with  what  body  do  they  come  ?  " 
You  observe,  he  is  speaking  directly  to  the  point. 
u  Thou  fool,"  he  answers,  "  that  which  thou  so  west 
is  not  quickened  except  it  die.  And  that  which 
thou  sowest,  thou  sowest  not  that  body  that  shall 
be."  What  could  be  plainer V  The  natural  body 
is  the  one  sown  in  death  ;  this  we  know.  But  the 
body  that  shall  be,  the  body  in  which  we  shall  live 
hereafter,  is  noi,  says  Paul,  the  one  that  is  sown. 
Then  he  goes  on  to  show  that  there  are  different 
kinds  of  bodies  ;  that  different  orders  of  beings  have 
different  bodies,  each  suited  to  its  peculiar  sphere  ; 
beasts  one  kind,  birds  another  ;  and  so  on.  Then 
he  says,  there  are  bodies  celestial  and  bodies  ter- 
restrial, and  one  star  differs  from  another  in  glory. 
Having  paved  the  way  for  his  final  point,  he  declares: 
u  So  also  is  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  It  is  sown 
in  corruption,  it  is  raised  in  incorruption  ;  it  is  sown 
in  dishonor,  it  is  raised  in  glory  ;  it  is  sown  in  weak- 
ness, it  is  raised  in  power  ;  a  natural  body  is  sown, 
a  spiritual  body  is  raised."  In  our  common  version 


PAUL'S  DOCTRINE    VERY   CLEAR.  33 

it  reads,  "it  is  sown  a  natural  body,  it  is  raised  a 
spiritual  body , "  *  as  though  the  same  body  that  was 
sown  was  raised.  But  Paul's  Greek  does  not  read 
so.  What  he  really  said,  giving  to  his  words  their 
correct  translation  and  meaning,  was  :  "A  natural 
bo$y  is  sown;  a  spiritual  body  is  raised."  To  para- 
phrase the  language  in  accordance  with  its  true 
spirit:  The  natural  body  which,  in  and  of  itself 
when  released  from  the  spirit,  is  mere  corruption, 
dishonor  and  weakness,  is  sown  or  laid  in  the  grave  ; 
but  the  spiritual  body  which  is  comparatively  incor- 
ruption,  since  it  cannot  die — glory,  in  that  it  is  im- 
mortal— power,  in  that  it  gives  to  the  natural  all 
the  life  and  power  it  has— this  rises  ;  this  stands  up. 
The  material  body  has  no  part  in  the  anastasis ;  the 
spiritual  body  has  it  all.  And  he  concludes  the 
sentence  with  these  words,  "  There  is  a  natural 
body;  and  there  is  a  spiritual  body."  Not  there 
will  be,  but  there  is.  We  have  it  all  the  time.  You 
and  I  have  it  now.  The  one  pervades  the  other, 
glorious,  incorruptible,  powerful.  It  is  your  spiritual 
body,  the  real  man,  which  will  stand  up  at  the  anas- 
tasis or  resurrection ;  but  your  natural  body,  corrupt, 
dishonored  by  decay,  weakness  itself,  will  fall  down, 
dissolve  into  its  original  elements,  and  be  known  no 
more  forever. 

Can  any  thing  be  plainer  than  these  words  of  Paul  ? 
— anything  more  conclusive  as  to  the  doctrine  of  the 
Apostolic  church  on  this  subject  ?— anything  more 
certain  than  that  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of 

*  1  Cor.  xv.  35-44. 
C 


34  THE   TWO  RESURRECTIONS. 

the  material  body  was  afterwards  imported  from 
outside  of  Christianity,  and  ingrafted  upon  it.  Is 
there  power  in  human  language  to  express  meaning 
more  clearly  than  these  words  express  this  doctrine  ? 
Yet  Paul,  for  fear  any  one  might  mistake  his  mean- 
ing, added:  "Now  this  1  say,  brethren,  that  flesth 
and  blood  cannot  inherit  the  kingdom  of  Gou  ; 
neither  doth  corruption  inherit  incorruption." 
"  Flesh  and  blood," — that  means  this  body.  u  Cor- 
ruption,"—that  means  this  body  dead  and  decaying. 
And  none  of  us  will  carry  any  of  this  natural  body, 
this  flesh  and  blood,  this  corruption,  into  the  land 
of  glory  and  incorruption,  toward  which  we  all,  let 
us  hope,  are  hastening  ! 

This  teaching  agrees  with  the  doctrine  held  by 
Solomon  :  "  Then  shall  the  dust  return  to  the  earth 
from  whence  it  was  taken  ;  and  the  spirit  shall  re- 
turn unto  God  who  gave  it."t  But  better  still,  it 
agrees  with  the  teachings  of  Christ.  His  lesson  to 
the  Sadducees  was,  that  when  Moses  at  the  bush 
called  God  the  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaae. 
and  the  God  of  Jacob,  He  then  and  there  taught  the 
doctrine  of  the  anastasis  or  resurrection.!  u  For," 
said  He,  "  God  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead,  but  of 
the  living."  It  was  as  if  He  had  said  :  "I  declare 
to  you  that  there  is  a  resurrection  ;  for  Abraham, 
Isaac  and  Jacob  are  declared,  according  to  the  spirit 
of  Moses'  declaration,  to  be  already  resurrected." 
Yet  the  great  traditional  resurrection  day  of  the 
future,  when  bodies  should  leap  from  their  graves, 

*  1  Cor.  xv.  50.         |  EC°-  xii-  *•         i  Matt-  xxii-  31»  32- 


NO   GENERAL  RESURRECTION.  35 

had  not  come  ;  and  this  illustration  with  regard  to 
the  patriarchs  was  the  truth  respecting  all  resurrec- 
tion. Afterwards  Peter,  James  and  John  were 
favored  with  a  face  to  face  view  of  Moses  and  Elias 
in  their  resurrection  bodies — their  spiritual  bodies  ; 
and  they  were  men  not  myths  ;  and  they  talked  to 
Jesus.  And  every  angel  that  ever  showed  himself 
to  man,  according  to  the  Bible  record,  and  for  whom 
the  wildest  dogmatic  tradition  has  never  claimed 
material  bodies,  and  every  man  who  ever  died  and 
was  at  any  time  revealed  in  vision  to  prophet  or 
seer,  was  always  seen  and  known  as  a  man,  with 
speech  and  form  and  thought  and  all  the  attributes 
of  a  man ;  and  there  is  no  other  idea,  whatever 
human  tradition  may  say,  which  is  even  hinted  at 
in  the  Word  of  God. 

So  Paul  was  right ;  and  each  man  has  a  spiritual 
as  well  as  a  natural  body  ;  and  when  the  natural 
falls  the  spiritual  stands  erect ;  and  that  is  the  way 
the  resurrection  takes  place.  And  it  must  take 
place  at  once,  and  not  at  some  day  in  the  far  distant 
future  ;  because  when  the  body  falls  at  death,  the 
spirit  stands  up  and  lives,  and  there  is  no  other 
anastasis. 

But  is  there  no  hint  at  a  general  resurrection  at 
some  future  day  ?  None  whatever,  if  we  take  the 
true  spirit  of  holy  Writ.  Our  allotted  limits  ren- 
der it  impossible  to  adduce  all  the  texts  which  mi.irht 
t>e  cited.  But  the  key  to  a  solution  of  whatever  dif- 
ficulty is  here  presented,  may  be  found  in  this  idea, 
too  often  forgotten :  that  there  are  two  kinds  of 
resurrection  referred  to  in  the  Bible.  One  is  that 


36  THE   TWO  RESURRECTIONS. 

from  this  world  into  the  world  beyond  ;  the  other  is 
the  resurrection  from  spiritual  death  to  spiritual 
life.  By  applying  the  former  idea  to  the  latter  class 
of  texts,  a  seeming  sanction,  because  of  the  misap- 
plication, is  given  to  the  theory  of  the  resurrection 
of  the  material  body. 

Take,  for  example,  these  words  of  the  Lord : 
"The  hour  is  coming  when  all  that  are  in  their 
graves  shall  hear  his  voice,  and  shall  come  forth ; 
they  that  have  done  good  to  the  resurrection  of 
life  ;  and  they  that  have  done  evil  to  the  resurrec- 
tion of  damnation. "  Read  this  in  the  light  of  tradi- 
tional dogma';  let  not  the  mind  wander  from  the 
idea  of  a  bodily  resurrection  as  a  confirmed  belief, 
and  it  appears  to  teach  that  doctrine — does  it  hot  ? 
But  go  back  a  few  sentences  to  the  words  which 
lead  up  to  this  statement,  and  of  which  this  is  but 
the  conclusion:  u Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you, 
The  hour  is  coming,  and  now  is,  when  the  dead  shall 
hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God ;  and  they  that 
hear  shall  live."  This  NOW  is  makes  a  material 
alteration  in  the  thought  or  the  doctrine  taught. 
If  the  hour  was  coming,  and  at  that  moment  was, 
that  the  dead  should  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of 
God,  it  was  an  event  that  had  already  begun,  that 
was  then  progressing,  and  that  would  go  forward  in 
the  future.  Certainly  the  physically  dead  had  not 
at  that  time  been  raised  from  their  graves  and  none 
were  then  being  raised.  No  physically  dead  men. 
resurrected,  were  then  listening  to  the  words  of 
Jesus,  nor  had  any  such  at  any  time  so  listened. 

Who,  then,  were  the  dead  here  referred  to  '?  Evi- 
dently those  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins— those  who 


CHRIST'S   TEACHING    ON   THIS  SUBJECT.       37 

were  in  the  condition  expressed  by  the  words  of 
Paul,  "To  be  carnally  minded  is  death."*  The 
dead  were  those  who  rejected  Christ,  who  refused 
the  gospel,  who  did  not  know  the  Christian  life, 
and  were  not  alive  to  its  glories  and  blessings. 
Christ  might  well  say  of  these,  u  Verily,  verily,  I 
say  unto  you,  The  hour  is  coming,  and  now  is,  when 
the  dead  shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God,  and 
they  that  hear  shall  live. "  He  was  preaching  every 
day  to  this  kind  of  dead.  Every  day  was  some  one 
receiving  life  from  his  words.  Those  who  were  spir- 
itually in  their  graves — in  the  graves  of  selfishness 
and  delusion  and  ignorance  and  carnal-mindedness, 
were  coming  forth  to  listen  to  Him.  To  those  who 
came  forth,  stood  up,  listened,  and  obeyed  his 
words — to  those  who  did  the  good  He  taught,  it 
was  a  resurrection  to  newness  of  life — spiritual  life  ; 
but  to  those  who  stood  up  and  listened,  yet  obeyed 
Him  not,  but  remained  in  their  ignorance  and  evil, 
it  was  a  resurrection  of  damnation.  There  is  no 
doctrine  of  a  future  general  resurrection  of  physical 
bodies  here  ;  it  was  a  thing  not  of  the  future  but 
of  the  Now  is ;  and  untrammeled  by  a  traditional 
dogma,  all  would  see  it  to  be  so  at  a  glance. 

Now  carry  this  idea  to  the  interpretation  of  any 
and  every  text  which  seems  to  teach  a  future  gen- 
eral resurrection  day,  a  resurrection  of  dead  bodies  ; 
carry  the  idea  of  a  spiritual  resurrection  from  the 
grave  of  sin  to  the  life  of  righteousness,  from  the 
death  of  evil-mindedness  to  the  heart-life  of  purity 

*Rom.  viii.6. 


38  THE   TWO  RESURRECTIONS. 

which  Christ  gives,  and  you  will  catch  the  spirit 
and  genuine  import  of  every  such  text.  You  will 
also  learn  that,  however  you  may  have  read  before, 
there  is  not  a  text  within  the  lids  of  the  Bible  which 
refers  to  the  grave  as  a  place  from  which  material 
bodies  are  to  be  resurrected,  or  to  the  dead  as  the 
decaying  or  decayed  corpses  to  which  physical  life  is 
again  to  be  imparted  at  some  great  general  judg- 
ment-day. You  have  two  resurrections ;  one,  the 
standing  up  of  the  spirit  in  the  spirit-sphere  when 
the  natural  body  falls  ;  the  other,  that  resurrection 
from  spiritual  death  to  spiritual  life,  when  the  in- 
ward man  is  made  new,  when  the  spiritual  triumphs 
over  the  natural,  when  from  being  dead  in  tres- 
passes and  sins  you  have  become  alive  in  Christ. 

A  removal  of  the  old  error  is  necessary  to  an  un- 
derstanding of  the  higher  view.  "We  must  clear 
away  the  rubbish  before  we  can  begin  to  lay  foun- 
dations for  the  edifice  of  genuine  heavenly  truth. 
Now  the  resurrection  into  heaven  begins  to  take 
form  and  shape.  We  have  two  kinds  of  resurrec- 
tion into  that  beautiful  land.  As  I  have  before  said, 
heaven  is  a  state  of  the  heart.  When  the  heart  is 
a  heaven,  we  carry  heaven  about  with  us  wherever 
we  go,  and  make  a  heaven  of  every  place  which  is 
blessed  with  our  presence.  But  if  the  heart  is  a 
hell,  we  carry  hell  with  us  wherever  we  go,  and 
make  a  hell  of  every  locality  which  becomes  cursed 
with  our  presence.  These  things  are  ingrained ; 
they  are  a  part  of  ourselves.  Our  character  is  our 
heaven  or  our  hell ;  and  as  we  have  been  through 
life  forming  within  us  and  weaving  into  the  very 
tissues  of  our  souls  the  one  or  the  other,  that  we 


FROM  SPIRITUAL  DEATH.  39 

are.  Death  comes ;  with  it  comes  a  resurrection. 
The  body  falls  ;  the  spirit  stands  up.  The  body  cor- 
rupts in  the  grave,  and  its  elements  enter  into  other 
forms  of  existence,  into  soil,  grasses,  trees,  animals, 
and  other  bodies.  But  the  soul  lives  on,  enters  at 
once,  nor  waits  for  any  future  day,  into  a  new  era 
of  existence,  beginning  in  the  other  world  just  where 
it  left  off  here.  It  carries  its  own  heart  with  it,  its 
own  character,  its  own  quality.  The  heaven  or  hell 
which  it  has  built  up  for  itself,  it  bears  with  it  in 
the  anastasis.  In  the  one  case,  it  is  a  resurrection 
of  life  ;  in  the  other,  of  condemnation. 

But  there  is  another  sort  of  resurrection.  It  is 
that  from  spiritual  death  to  spiritual  life.  All  the 
while  we  have  lived  in  the  world,  if  we  have  been 
true  to  ourselves  and  the  Lord,  we  have  been  slowly 
emerging  from  the  delusions  of  sense  into  the  re- 
alities of  the  higher  life  ;  from  our  proneness  to  sin, 
into  a  love  for  the  Lord's  commandments ;  from 
tastes  and  longings  ignoble,  low  and  mean,  into  de- 
sires noble,  pure  and  good  ;  from  love  of  the  world 
into  love  of  the  neighbor  ;  from  love  of  self  into  love 
of  God ;  journeying  the  while  from  Egypt  to  Canaan, 
from  hell  to  heaven.  We  started  out  in  life  bent 
down  toward  sensuality ;  now  we  begin  to  stand 
spiritually  erect.  Our  hearts,  once  like  the  dry 
bones  in  Ezekiel,  become  clothed  with  flesh,  stand 
up  and  live.  This  is  another  anastasis.  "We  have 
been  all  the  while  becoming  children  of  the  resur- 
rection. This  resurrection  is  always  toward  heaven ; 
for  it  is  a  new  standing  up  of  the  character,  a  resur- 
rection of  the  heart  to  higher  and  nobler  purposes. 


40  THE   TWO  RESURRECTIONS. 

The  longer  it  goes  on  the  more  erect  the  spirit 
stands. 

And  if  we  have  done  this  in  the  light  and  power 
of  God,  resurrection  into  the  other  world  at  death 
lands  us  amid  all  the  beauty  and  bloom  of  the  heaven 
on  the  other  shore  ;  stands  us  among  the  heavenly- 
minded  who  have  won  their  crowns  even  as  we  have 
won  ours  ;  renders  us  heirs  of  whatever  of  reward 
— peace,  joy,  happiness,  salvation,  eternal  life — waits 
upon  those  whose  hearts  have  become  renewed  after 
the  image  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Yes,  if  we  have  but  partially  done  this  work 
truthfully  and  well, — and  few  have  done  more, — even 
then  we  begin  with  so  much  of  heaven  as  we  have 
already  won  on  leaving  here,  and  finish  our  resur- 
rection into  higher  states  in  the  world  beyond. 
But  heaven  must  be  in  us  here,  or  it  will  never  be 
around  us  there.  It  must  be  a  heart's  love,  or  it 
will  never  be  an  outward  realization.  It  must  be  an 
inward  light,  or  we  shall  never  see  the  light  of  God 
which  irradiates  the  skies  above.  The  resurrection 
of  the  soul  out  of  the  body  into  the  spirit  world  is 
one  thing ;  that  of  its  elevation  into  heaven  is  an- 
other. Heaven  is  its  own  life  and  light  and  joy  ; 
the  heavenly  spirit,  in  the  world  beyond,  rises  into 
it  by  its  own  native  tendency.  The  one  resurrection 
is  a  great  and  glorious  fact ;  but  the  other  is  great- 
ness, joy  and  glory  in  itself.  The  one  gives  an  end 
to  live  for,  and  a  hope  to  die  for  ;  but  the  other  is  a 
present  satisfaction,  and  an  eternal  peace.  The  one 
is  a  boon  beyond  aught  that  is  granted  to  the  beasts 
that  perish ;  but  the  other  is  God's  own  seal  of  eternal 
blessedness  set  within  the  soul. 


III. 

WHERE  AND    WHAT  IS  HEAVEN? 

CHRISTENDOM  has  had  its  superstitions  no 
less  than  heathendom.  Christendom  has 
had  its  traditions,  whereby  it  has  made 
the  Word  of  God  of  none  effect,  as  certainly  as 
had  the  Pharisees  of  old.  Let  us  rise  out  of  this 
mist  of  superstition  and  tradition.  Let  us  dare  to 
grapple  with  religious  questions  of  profound  inter- 
est, even  though  we  cannot  carry  with  us  the  ap- 
proval of  the  church  authorities,  nor  the  sanction 
of  its  creeds.  No  matter  what  we  may  have  been 
taught ;  we  want  the  truth.  No  matter  what  duty 
the  letter  of  Scripture  has  in  the  past  been  called 
upon  to  perform  ;  we  want  its  living  spirit. 

Tradition  and  superstition  have  located  heaven 
in  very  curious  places.  They  have  assigned  it  a 
position  in  some  of  the  stars.  They  have  given  it 
a  place  in  the  moon.  They  have  located  it  in  the 
sun.  They  have  set  it  upon  the  upper  portion  of 
the  concave  surface  of  the  sky.  They  have  placed 
it  on  this  earth  renewed  by  millenial  fires  in  some 
indefinite  future.  All  these  localities  are  natural 
and  material ;  but  heaven  as  the  eternal  residence 
of  the  soul,  is  spiritual.  But  to  render  this  con- 
sistent, they  have  resurrected  our  material  bodies 
to  clothe  the  spirit  withal  once  more,  in  order  that 
it  may  dwell  somewhere  in  material  space. 
4*  41 


42  WHERE  AND    WHAT  IS  HEAVEN? 

But  suppose  it  were  in  the  sun  ;  solar  conditions 
would  instantaneously  destroy  these  frames  of  frag- 
ile matter.  Suppose  it  were  in  the  stars  ;  they  are 
but  flaming  suns  like  the  centre  of  our  own  plan- 
etary system.  Suppose  it  were  on  the  earth  ;  its  ca- 
pacity could  neither  hold  nor  support  the  countless 
millions  who  would  rise  to  people  its  surface  ;  or  on 
the  moon, — that  is  far  less  in  size  than  the  earth. 
Suppose  it  were  on  the  upper  surface  of  the  sky  ; 
but  the  intelligence  of  to-day  knows  there  is  no  such 
thing  ;  for  the  sky,  augment  the  power  of  your  tel- 
escope as  you  will,  is  only  space.  These  things  are 
supposable  only  to  superstition  or  utter  thought- 
lessness. To  intelligence,  the}7  are  not  supposable. 

Yet  the  Scripture  has  laid  down  many  a  founda- 
tion of  truth  on  this  and  all  kindred  topics,  on  which 
it  calls  upon  us  to  build.  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose 
that  the  Bible  is  silent  on  this  momentous  theme. 
True,  in  its  letter  it  has  not  located  the  other  world. 
Inferentially,  in  its  spirit  it  has.  It  has  given  us 
no  set  lesson  on  heavenly  geography  ;  yet  the  con- 
clusions it  leaves  us  to  draw  from  its  whole  scope 
and  tenor  are  so  plain,  that  we  never  could  have 
avoided  them  had  not  our  minds  been  pre-occupied 
by  the  pagan  traditions  which  have  fastened  them- 
selves on  Christianity. 

Let  us  proceed,  however,  by  the  light  of  the  con- 
clusions at  which  we  have  already  arrived.  Let  us 
remember  that  the  soul  or  spirit  is  the  real  man, 
and  the  body  only  the  garment  with  which  it  is 
clothed  for  the  purposes  of  its  earth-life, — only  the 
machine  within  which  it  dwells  and  whose  various 


THE  SPIRIT  IS  THE  REAL   MAN.  43 

parts  it  moves,  and  of  whose  cunning  mechanism  it 
makes  use  to  walk  about  and  do  its  earthly  work 
with  ;  that  this  soul  is  in  the  human  form,  clothed 
with  a  spiritual  body  which,  when  the  earthly  is 
dissolved,  stands  up  in  its  own  sphere,  and  lives,  in 
appearance  and  in  reality,  a  thoroughly  human  life  ; 
that  it  thinks,  loves,  feels,  hears,  sees,  smells,  on  the 
spiritual  plane  ;  and  if  it  be  heavenly  in  character, 
that  it  dwells  in  heavenly  companionships  hereafter, 
and  in  that  realm  of  the  world  beyond  which  we  call 
heaven. 

I  have  said  that  the  spirit  is  the  real  man.  When 
the  body  dies,  it  falls  away,  as  it  were,  from  the 
spirit-man  whom  it  had  clothed,  and  the  soul  stands 
up  in  its  own  sphere,  untrammeled  by  impediments 
of  flesh.  This  is  the  resurrection.  Where  does  this 
soul  clothed  in  its  spiritual  body,  go  ?  Why,  it  does 
not  go  anywhere.  Its  new  relations  are  right  around 
it.  This  opaque  body  that  it  bore,  has  shut  from 
sight  all  its  spiritual  surroundings.  Drop  the  mate- 
rial body,  and  the  scenery  of  the  spiritual  world  be- 
comes visible  in  every  direction.  There  has  been 
no  change  in  space.  Place  a  screen  in  front  of  your 
window,  and  your  vision  is  confined  to  the  room  in 
which  you  are  ;  remove  the  screen  and  your  vision 
extends  over  all  the  landscape  to  the  horizon's  ut- 
most verge.  This  body  is  the  screen  before  the 
spirit.  The  real  eyes  were  in  the  soul ;  the  eyes  of 
the  body  were  only  the  windows  through  which  it 
looked  into  the  world.  The  illustration,  however, 
is  not  perfect  in  every  respect.  Remove  this  screen 
called  the  body  and  you  cannot  look  into  the  world 


44  WHERE  AND    WHAT  IS  HEAVEN? 

any  more.  But  another  world  is  around  you,  which 
it  had  previously  hidden  from  your  view  ;  and  the 
real  man,  with  alfhis  normal  powers  restored,  with- 
out moving  a  step  in  space,  without  floating  off  to 
sun,  moon,  or  star,  finds  himself  the  centre  of  a  hori- 
zon of  such  wonderful  reality  and  actual  verity,  that 
if  any  spirit  were  to  tell  him  he  were  in  the  land  of 
the  dead,  he  would  turn  upon  him,  perhaps,  with  a 
smile  of  incredulity. 

"Well,  then,  the  soul  being  the  seat  of  character, 
and  being  its  own  quality,  its  own  character  and 
quality  go  with  it  and  remain  with  it  in  the  other 
sphere  of  life.  What  it  was  the  moment  before  it 
dropped  the  body,  that  it  is  the  moment  after.  The 
death  of  the  body  does  not  alter  the  disposition  of 
the  spirit.  Has  it  during  its  earth-life  woven  heaven 
or  hell  into  the  fabric  of  its  constitution  ?  So  will  it 
be  a  heaven  or  a  hell  in  itself  the  moment  it  stands 
upon  the  opposite  shore.  Has  it  left  here  with  a 
character  not  fully  developed  for  good  or  evil — 
good  in  grain  with  much  of  the  stain  of  earthly  evil 
still  left,  or  bad  in  grain  with  many  of  the  world's 
external  refinements  and  hypocrisies  still  clinging 
to  it? — so  will  it  enter  upon  its  new  state  of  existence. 

But  while  it  lived  in  this  world,  although  there 
was  a  screen  before  the  windows  of  the  soul,  so  that 
its  vision  and  action  were  circumscribed  by  worldly 
sights  and  surroundings,  it  went  not  unattended  by 
spiritual  companions,  nor  unsurrounded  by  spirit- 
ual realities.  The  spiritual  and  natural  worlds  are 
mutually  interlocked.  The  soul  stands  here  as  to  its 
natural  body  upon  the  natural  soil  of  earth,  but 


OUR  INVISIBLE  ASSOCIATES.  45 

steeped  in  all  the  mysteries  and  verities  of  the  un- 
seen sphere  of  life.  Influences  are  pressing  upon  it 
of  which  it  takes  no  cognizance, limply  because  all 
its  interests  and  energies  are  going  forth  into  this 
world  ;  and  the  curtain  which  hides  the  other  world 
from  view  is  not  yet  withdrawn. 

But  there  is  a  curious  law  of  mind  which  ignores 
completely  some  of  the  phenomena  of  material  ex- 
istence. The  spirit  is  bound  by  no  such  thing  as 
space.  In  that  world  thought  and  affection  cause 
presence.  Let  the  thought  be  good  and  the  affec- 
tion pure,  and  we  attract,  by  a  sort  of  spiritual  mag- 
netism, angelic  spirits  ;  let  the  thought  be  evil  and 
the  affection  defiled,  and  we  are  surrounded  by  in- 
fernal spirits.  Our  invisible  associates  are  those 
whom  our  present  states  of  mind  and  heart  attract 
to  our  sides.  Let  desire  and  thought  be  concen- 
trated on  the  effort  to  draw  nearer  to  God  and  obey 
more  faithfully  his  laws,  and,  imperfect  though  our 
efforts  be,  we  are  among  those  on  the  other  side 
who  sympathize  with  us  and  urge  on  the  work ; 
while  the  angels  are  near  at  hand  with  all  their 
holy  influences.  Let  purity  and  peace  serenely  rest 
upon  the  soul,  and  we  have  the  angelic  host  spirit- 
ually and  really  present ;  though  here  in  the  body, 
our  souls  are  in  heaven.  Let  but  the  veil  drop,  and 
the  mansions  of  the  blest  in  all  their  beauty  stand 
before  our  eyes,  the  heavenly  pastures  and  the 
mountains  of  the  Lord  spread  out  to  our  enraptured 
sight ;  the  love-lit  eyes  of  lovelier  hearts  look  back 
on  eyes  of  love,  the  forms  of  those  who  have  gained 
celestial  heights  stand  forth  in  their  celestial  beauty ; 


46  WHERE  AND    WHAT  IS  HEAVEN? 

yet  we  have  not  walked  a  rood,  nor  floated  upward 
through  a  hand's  breadth  of  natural  space  ;  but  find 
on  the  spiritual  sid£  the  law  of  matter  quite  ignored, 
and  a  very  present  heaven  for  our  spirit's  home. 

Heaven  rests  upon  this  earth.  It  is  not  a  different 
place,  but  a  different  realm  or  sphere  of  being.  The 
whole  after-world  rests  upon  the  present  world.  It 
is  here ;  its  scenery  surrounds  us  ;  its  inhabitants 
cross  our  path  at  every  turn  ;  they  crowd  our  houses 
and  our  streets  ;  they  stir  our  hearts  to  fiendish  pas- 
sions— malice  or  revenge  ;  or  they  whisper  thoughts 
of  peace,  purity,  and  contentment,  according  to  the 
feelings  and  purposes  which  we  voluntarily  cherish. 
The  poet's  dream  of  conjuring  into  presence  the 
spirits  of  the  dead,  has  more  of  truth  in  it  than 
some  are  aware  of.  We  are  conjuring  them  into 
presence,  though  not  to  sight,  in  every  thought  and 
purpose  and  wish  and  spontaneous  effusion  of  the 
heart. 

To  enter  upon  the  spiritual  chemistry  of  other- 
world  substance,  or  the  spiritual  geology  of  other- 
world  earths,  is  something  that  must  be  left  until 
we  come  openly  into  that  world,  and  become  inter- 
ested students  of  spiritual  science.  The  difference 
between  mind  and  matter  no  man  has  ever  scien- 
tifically analyzed  ;  yet  mind  is  mind,  and  matter  is 
matter,  and  we  know  that  they  are  totally  different. 
The  sun  shines  in  heaven  notwithstanding  the  failure 
of  the  scientist  to  develop  its  nature  and  to  resolve 
its  constituent  elements  ;  and  the  soul  is  a  potent 
fact,  and  wields  this  body  with  marvelous  facility 
and  power,  though  no  surgeon  has  ever  yet  dissected 


THE  HEAVENS  OPENED.  47 

it.  And  so,  too,  the  spiritual  world  is  a  world  of 
wonderful  reality,  and  in  immediate  contact  with 
the  earth,  though  we  can  resolve  it  neither  into 
matter  nor  the  constituent  elements  of  matter. 

These  truths  are  stated  positively.  If  you  credit 
the  Scriptures  you  cannot  doubt  them.  You  who 
read  your  Bibles  believingly,  can  you  question  the 
truth  of  the  views  here  presented  concerning  the 
reality  and  presence  of  other-world  existences  ? 
When  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  Ezekiel  and 
the  heavens  were  opened  to  him  and  he  saw  visions 
of  God,  where  was  Ezekiel  V  Did  he  go  off  into  the 
distant  realms  of  space  ?  and  were  the  laws  of  nature 
suspended  that  he  might  be  wafted  millions  of  miles 
in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  ?  No :  he  was 'among 
the  Jewish  captives  by  the  river  Chebar  in  the  land 
of  Chaldaea.  He  simply  "  looked,"  so  runs  the  sa- 
cred record,  and  he  beheld,  within  the  opened  heav- 
ens, the  marvellous  things  which  he  proceeds  to  nar- 
rate.* "Was  it  the  natural  heavens  that  the  prophet 
refers  to  ?  How  can  the  skies,  which  are  but  vacant 
space,  open  and  disclose  moving  sights  and  living 
scenes  ?  Surely  this  were  more  marvelous  and  in- 
credible than  the  other.  It  was  the  curtain  which 
hid  the  other  world  from  view  then  drawn  aside. 
It  was  that  peculiar  change  of  mental  state,  that 
turning  away  of  the  eyes  of  the  spirit  from  natural 
things  and  the  opening  of  them  to  the  realities  of 
the  spiritual  world,  which  is  possible  and  was  often 
permitted  to  seers  and  prophets,  and  which  is  called 

*  Ezek.  i.  1,  4. 


48  WHERE  AND    WHAT  IS  HEAVEN? 

in  Scripture  being  "  in  the  spirit."  Ezekiel  simply 
u  stood  up "  on  Chaldoean  soil,  and  looked  forth 
into  heaven. 

When  John  was  uin  the  spirit"  on  the  Lord's 
day,  and  heard  the  voice  of  a  great  trumpet  and 
saw  the  seven  candlesticks  and  one  like  unto  the 
Son  of  man,  where  was  he  ?  When  again  he  was 
uin  the  spirit  "  and  a  door  was  opened  in  heaven, 
and  he  saw  a  throne  and  Him  that  sat  upon  it, 
where  was  he  ?  When  on  other  occasions  he  was 
"in  the  spirit"  and  saw  heaven  opened,  as  when 
he  beheld  the  white  horse  and  the  armies  of  heaven 
following  the  rider,  or  when  he  gazed  upon  the  de- 
scending city,  New  Jerusalem,  where  was  he  ?  * 
Why,  he  was  in  the  Isle  of  Patmos,  and  there  re- 
mained during  the  continuance  of  these  visions.  It 
was  only  to  be  in  the  spirit,  which,  as  proved  by  the 
after  occurrence,  was  to  have  his  spiritual  sight 
opened,  or  to  be  gifted  with  the  power  of  introvert- 
ing his  sight  from  earth  to  the  heavenly  realm, 
when  he  could  view  the  scenes  of  the  other  world 
without  stirring  a  foot  from  his  position  in  this. 
Can  we  believe  that  the  opening  of  the  heavens  was 
a  great  rent  in  the  sky,  and  that  these  things  were 
seen  by  John,  as  they  must  have  been  if  so  seen  at 
all,  millions  of  miles  away  in  the  azure  blue  ?  Is 
this  reasonable  ?  Does  it  commend  itself  to  the 
rational  understanding  or  the  common  sense  of  peo- 
ple of  our  times  ? 

But  there  is  one  narrative  in  Scripture  which  is 

*  Rev.  i.  9,  10;  iv.  1,  2;  vi.  2;  xxi.  1,  2,  etc. 


OPENING   OF   THE  SPIRITS  EYES.  49 

so  plain  and  conclusive  that  it  seems  as  though  it 
had  been  placed  there  for  the  express  purpose  of 
saving  us  from  doubt  on  this  point  ;  and  that  nar- 
rative will  stand  forever  as  the  lesson  of  God,  lead- 
ing our  minds  into  correct  currents  of  thought  in 
relation  to  heaven. 

The  king  of  Syria  on  a  certain  occasion  warred 
against  Israel.  But  Elisha  the  prophet,  by  his  timely 
warnings  and  prophetic  intuitions,  saved  the  Israel- 
ites and  their  king  from  every  snare  that  was  laid 
for  them.  The  king  of  Syria  was  informed  that  it 
was  through  this  prophet  that  his  schemes  so  often 
failed,  and  he  resolved  to  capture  him.  So,  learning 
of  Elisha's  presence  at  Dothan,  he  sent  thither  a 
host  of  horses  and  chariots  and  completely  sur- 
rounded the  city.  Now  Elisha  had  a  servant  named 
Gehazi ;  and  he,  rising  up  early  in  the  morning,  dis- 
covered this  immense  army  encamped  about  them. 
And  he  was  troubled,  and  said  to  Elisha:  "Alas, 
my  master !  how  shall  we  do?  "  Elisha  had  no  mis- 
givings ;  for  he  already  saw,  by  the  opening  of  his 
spiritual  sight,  his  heavenly  surroundings.  But  he 
desired  that  his  servant  should  see  what  he  saw. 
And  he  prayed  and  said  :  "  Lord,  I  pray  thee,  open 
his  eyes  that  he  may  see."  The  expression  is  note- 
worthy ;  but  it  is  the  usual  Scripture  expression  for 
this  opening  of  the  spiritual  eyes  that  the  seer  may 
view  the  things  which  surround  him  in  the  other 
world.  So,  to  cite  the  language  of  the  sacred  record, 
"  the  Lord  opened  the  eyes  of  the  young  man,  and 
he  saw  ;  and  behold,  the  mountain  was  full  of  horses 
and  chariots  of  fire  round  about  Elisha  "—the  pro- 
5  D 


50  WHERE  AND    WHAT  IS  HEAVEN? 

tecting  hosts  of  heaven  who  were  to  rout  the  Syrian 
army  by  sudden  panic  and  dismay  !  * 

This  teaches  us  very  plainly  where  the  angels  are  ; 
where  heaven  is ;  where  are  all  those  protecting  in- 
fluences prepared  for  us  by  the  Lord,  and  ministered 
unto  us  by  his  heavenly  hosts.  Given,  the  opening 
of  the  eyes  into  the  spiritual  realm,  and  a  state  of 
mind  which  brings  them  near,  and  they  are,  with- 
out reference  to  natural  space,  suddenly  visible 
round  about  us. 

Thus  we  can  see  how  Paul  was  caught  up  into  the 
third  heaven,  and  there  beheld  things  unspeakable, 
without  leaving  the  earth  bodily.  Thus  we  can  un- 
derstand how  heaven  was  opened  at  the  baptism  of 
Christ ;  that  it  was  no  opening  of  natural  skies,  but 
the  opening  of  the  great  world  beyond  to  the  inner 
eyes  of  the  Divine  Man.  Thus  saw  Peter,  James 
and  John,  the  transfigured  body  of  Christ,  as  He 
was  in  his  inward  spirit,— Christ  in  his  glorified 
state,  and  the  personal  forms  also  of  Moses  and 
Elias,  now  become  angels.  They  were  spiritually 
present ;  the  spiritual  sight  of  the  Apostles  was 
opened ;  they  had  only  to  look,  and  they  beheld. 
Thus  came  Samuel  into  the  presence  of  Saul,  bidden 
from  the  other  world.  Thus,  after  his  resurrection, 
did  our  Lord  appear  and  disappear  in  that  upper 
room,  quite  regardless  of  closed  doors,  to  the  wonder- 
ing eyes  of  the  disciples.  He  was  seen  by  the  open- 
ing of  their  spiritual  eyes  ;  when  these  were  closed, 
He  vanished  from  their  sight.  So  were  Moses  and 
Elias  and  Samuel  seen,  and  so  they  disappeared. 

*  2  Kings  vi.  1-18. 


NATURAL   AND  SPIRITUAL   SPACE.  51 

I  know  how  difficult  it  is  to  comprehend  a  real 
world  without  the  laws  of  matter  and  of  space  ;  yet 
we  see  that  the  Scripture  view  of  this  subject  de- 
mands ^it.  If  it  is  true,  as  Scripture  teaches,  that 
the  other  world  is  right  around  us,  visible,  however, 
to  men  on  earth  by  the  opening  of  an  inner  spiritual 
sight ;  if  its  inhabitants  are  with  us  by  affection  and 
thought,  the  good,  bad  or  mixed,  as  we  draw  them 
to  us  by  our  own  states  or  frames  of  mind ;  why, 
then,  in  that  world  natural  space  must  be  annihilated. 
It  does  not  follow,  however,  that  there  is  no  spiritual 
space.  It  only  follows  that  spiritual  space  is  de- 
termined by  thought  which  is  an  attribute  of  spirit, 
and  that  earthly  space  is  measured  by  a  surveyor's 
chain  which  has  the  attributes  of  matter  and  not 
of  spirit.  It  is  the  difference  between  spirit  and 
matter. 

We  can  only  gain  general  principles  here.  We 
shall  have  a  clearer  idea  of  the  attributes  and  laws 
of  the  other  life  when  we  come  to  live  there  con- 
sciously. And  ideas,  it  must  be  remembered,  are 
matters  of  growth  with  us.  A  full-grown  man  un- 
derstands much  better  how  day  and  night  are  formed 
by  the  revolution  of  the  earth  on  its  axis,  than  the 
child  who  is  informed  of  the  fact  for  the  first  time, 
and  who  always  thought  that  the  sun  travelled  round 
the  earth  each  passing  day.  So  reflection  and  con- 
stant recurrence  to  the  thought  will,  after  a  while, 
thoroughly  familiarize  the  mind  with  the  idea  of  a 
spirit-world  without  space  that  can  be  measured  with 
a  yard-stick,  and  with  space  that  can  be  measured 
by  thought  and  affection  ;  with  the  idea  that  near- 


52  WHERE  AND    WHAT  IS  HEAVEN? 

ness  of  mental  state  causes  presence  not  only  be- 
tween spirits  in  the  other  world,  but  also  between 
the  angels  of  heaven  and  the  souls  of  people  on 
earth,  and  not  feet,  rods  and  miles  ;  and  yet  that 
the  appearance  of  space  there  is  just  as  clearly 
marked  as  it  is  here. 

So  the  question,  Where  is  heaven  ? — is  answered 
by  sacred  Scripture  in  such  words  as  our  earth-life 
affords  us.  Could  we  speak  the  language  of  heaven, 
perhaps  we  would  have  better  words  with  which  to 
clothe  these  ideas.  But  in  heaven  we  shall  also  have 
a  better  experience  ;  so  for  complete  realizations  we 
must  wait,  though  in  part  we  may  gain  partial  ones 
here. 

The  other  question,  What  is  heaven  ? — is  a  large 
one.  As  we  have  said,  geologically  or  chemically, 
or  by  analysis  of  any  earthly  science,  the  question 
must  remain  forever  unanswered.  The  reason  is 
obvious.  Spirit  is  not  matter,  and  it  has  its  own 
distinct  laws.  Heaven  is  not  earth,  and  it  exists 
under  conditions  utterly  diverse,  under  circum- 
stances totally  unlike  those  of  earth.  Its  essential 
constitution  is  one  sui  generis— peculiarly  its  own. 
Then  again  the  Word  of  God  is  not  a  scientific  trea- 
tise. It  was  not  only  not  intended  as  a  text-book 
for  physical  science,  but  it  does  not  pretend  to  teach 
spiritual  things  after  a  scientific  manner.  We  must 
not  ask  it ;  we  must  not  look  for  it.  It  was  not  in- 
tended to  furnish  the  intellect  with  theological  defi- 
nitions and  rules,  but  to  illumine  it ;  not  to  be  so 
much  a  text-book  of  theology  as  a  means  of  bring- 


THE  BIBLE  FULL    OF  SEED-TRUTHS.        53 

ing  us  into  spiritual  union  with  the  Lord,  and  under 
the  influence  of  the  angels. 

Yet  its  principles  are  broad  and  clear.  But  we 
oftener  get  them  into  us  by  our  hearts  warming 
towards  them,  than  by  our  reasoning  powers  being 
exercised  upon  them.  And  if  we  start  aright,  these 
principles  grow  and  expand  within  us,  and  gradually 
become  better  seen  and  more  fully  comprehended. 
The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  likened  uto  a  grain  of 
mustard-seed  which  a  man  took  and  sowed  in  his 
field,  which  indeed  is  the  least  of  all  seeds  ;  but 
when  it  is  grown  it  is  the  greatest  among  herbs  and 
becometh  a  tree,  so  that  the  birds  of  the  air  come 
and  lodge  in  the  branches  thereof."  *  The  Bible  is 
full  of  seed-truths,  which,  sown  in  the  mind,  will 
become  great  in  due  time,  and  grow  into  a  tree  of 
knowledge  with  spreading  and  varied  branches. 
So  is  it  with  regard  to  heaven.  The  subject  is  not 
laid  open  scientifically  nor  didactically ;  but  all 
through  the  Scriptures  are  scattered  these  seed- 
truths  concerning  heaven  and  the  heavenly  life, 
which,  if  permitted  to  take  root  in  the  mind,  will 
develop  into  a  satisfactory  solution  of  questions 
which,  on  their  first  reception,  it  is  hard  to  answer. 

Then  we  find  not  only  that  the  soul  is  the  real 
man,  but  that  the  soul-world  is  the  real  world ; 
that,  while  earth  is  our  abode  for  a  brief  period, 
heaven,  if  we  attain  unto  it,  is  our  abode  for  eter- 
nity ;  that  while  earthly  joys  are  spasmodic  and 
fleeting,  heavenly  joys  are  everlasting  ;  that,  where- 


*  Matt.  xiii.  31. 
5* 


54  WHERE  AND    WHAT  IS  HEAVEN? 

as  on  earth  we  are  (if  followers  of  the  Lord)  con- 
stantly battling  to  overcome  our  evils,  in  heaven  we 
have  the  blessed  heart-rest  of  evil  overcome ;  that 
while  earth  is  a  scene  of  disorder  and  strife,  and,  to  a 
certain  degree,  of  unrest  even  to  its  purest  and  love- 
liest souls,  the  happiness  of  heaven — there  being  no 
contact  with  evil  there — is  supreme  and  unalloyed. 

These  truths  and  a  hundred  kindred  ones  which 
we  find  cropping  out  from  the  letter  of  Scripture, 
like  grains  of  surface  gold  indicating  rich  veins  of 
ore  beneath  the  surface,  which  patient  digging  (that 
is,  reverent  living  of  the  truth  we  know)  will  ulti- 
mately disclose.  And  these  things  are  so  by  reason 
of  the  central  truth,  that  heaven  is,  essentially,  the 
Lord's  life  and  light  within  the  soul,  and  that,  there- 
fore, its  full  and  perfect  development,  as  found  in 
the  abodes  of  the  blest  beyond  the  grave,  absolutely 
must  include  all  these  and  innumerable  other  joys 
which  grow  out  of  a  heart-state  of  purity  and  peace. 

But  we  find  even  more  than  this.  Startling  as 
the  proposition  may  seem  to  those  who  have  allowed 
the  traditions  of  centuries  and  the  superstitions  of 
a  crude  religious  era  to  constitute  their  creed,  heaven 
is  a  real  world  of  sight  and  sense  and  sound.  Though 
not  material,  it  is  more  real  than  this  world ;  and 
on  precisely  the  same  principle  that  the  soul  is  more 
real  than  the  body. 

If  the  soul  or  spirit  is  real,  must  not  the  world  in 
which  it  dwells  be  real,  too  ?  Do  we  doubt  the  ex- 
istence of  the  soul,  because  our  fingers  cannot  grasp 
it  ?  Do  I  doubt  your  soul's  existence  because  I  can- 
not lay  this  hand  of  clay  upon  its  head  ? — because 


•OBJECTS  SEEN  IN  HEAVEN.  55 

it  requires  an  opening  of  my  spiritual  sight,  similar 
to  that  recorded  of  Ezekiel,  Zechariah,  Paul,  or 
John,  before  I  can  see  it  ?  Then  why  doubt  con- 
cerning the  spiritual  world  as  a  real  existence  with 
inhabitants  and  other  objects  of  reality,  albeit  its 
nature  is  peculiarly  its  own,  because  these  natural 
eyes  cannot  view  its  spiritual  scenes  ?  Ezekiel  saw 
that  world ;  Zechariah,  Paul,  and  John  saw  it. 
They  saw  it  as  something  visible  and  tangible. 
They  saw  its  temples  and  palaces,  its  rivers  and 
mountains,  its  fountains,  plains  and  trees.  They 
say  so ;  and  they  say  they  saw  these  things  in 
heaven.  "The  heavens  were  opened,"  says  Eze- 
kiel, "and  I  saw  visions  of  God."  "And  behold  a 
door  was  opened  in  heaven,"  says  John,  and  "a 
throne  was  set  in  heaven  and  one  sat  upon  the 
throne;"  and  again,  "I  saw  heaven  opened  and 
behold  a  white  horse."  And  they,  each  of  them, 
fill  many  chapters  in  relating  what  they  saw.  And 
angels  are  clothed  ;  for  among  the  many  related 
instances,  the  angel  who  sat  at  the  sepulchre  had 
on  a  shining  garment,  and  the  four  and  twenty 
elders  that  John  saw  in  heaven,  were  clothed  in, 
white  raiment.  He  and  the  earlier  seers  saw  in 
heaven  clouds  and  rainbows,  books  and  harps, 
thrones  and  crowns,  horses  and  chariots,  All  the 
prophets,  too,  heard  voices — the  voices  of  the  an- 
gels, some  of  them  the  sound  of  trumpets,  some  the 
rush  of  mighty  winds.  Everywhere,  when  we  read 
of  heaven,  we  hear  of  it  as  a  region  of  sights  ancl 
sounds.  But  according  to  the  sacred  record  one 
must  be  "in  the  spirit" — must  have  the  inner 


56  WHERE  AND    WHAT  IS  HEAVEN? 

senses  of  the  spirit  opened  in  order  to  witness  these 
spiritual  phenomena. 

The  argument,  then,  is  briefly  this :  that  while 
what  the  prophets  saw  was  limited  and  only  per- 
mitted for  the  sake  of  the  prophetic  meaning  of  the 
visions,  or  as  seed-truths,  not  as  full  revealments 
concerning  the  future  life,  yet  they  were  real ;  that 
because  they  were  visions,  or  things  seen  on  the 
spiritual  plane,  that  does  not  deprive  them  of  their 
reality  :  that  because  they  are  invisible  to  the  bodily 
sense,  that  does  not  deprive  them  of  their  tangibility 
so  far  as  the  spiritual  senses  are  concerned ;  that 
spiritual  things  may  have  form  and  shape  and  visi- 
bility and  sound  on  their  own  plane,  as  certainly  as 
material  things  on  theirs  ;  that  the  spiritual  world 
hidden  from  this,  has  its  scenery  and  surroundings, 
its  voices  and  its  thunderings,  its  perfumes  and  its 
incense,  cognizable,  however,  only  by  the  spiritual 
senses.  It  is  not  mapped  out  in  its  details  in  the 
Scripture,  but  the  suggestion  and  clear  intimation 
of  it  all  is  actually  there.  As  the  Word  of  God  is 
true,  this  is  true. 

In  the  great  Hereafter,  friend  will  meet  friend ; 
love  will  respond  to  love ;  music  will  charm  the 
soul  with  melody  ;  scenes  beautiful  and  grand  will 
display  their  forms  before  enchanted  eyes.  They 
will  be  more  perfect  than  those  witnessed  here, 
more  impressive,  more  living,  more  real,  because 
spirit  is  more  real,  living  and  perfect  than  matter. 
I  cannot  doubt  this,  for  the  Word  of  God  has  so  dis- 
closed ;  and  I  have  more  faith  in  the  Lord's  Word 


HEAVEN  IN   THE  SOUL.  57 

than  in  the  most  venerable  traditions,  or  the  most 
ingenious  hypothesis  ever  invented  by  man. 

There  is  a  tangible  reality  in  the  heaven  about 
which  the  Lord  has  taught  us  in  his  Word.  "We  can 
look  forward  to  it  with  an  assurance  of  its  splendor 
and  its  peace.  It  looms  up  before  the  mind,  not  as 
something  fantastic,  unreal  and  evanescent,  like  the 
floating  phantasmagoria  of  a  bright  and  passing 
dream,  but  as  a  region  where  the  soul  can  find  a 
human  joy  and  live  as  a  human  being.  As  it  is  the 
seat  of  God's  presence,  his  creative  power  will  fill 
it  with  all  things  that  can  delight  the  eye,  excite 
the  activity  of  a  regenerated  mind,  or  answer  the 
cravings  of  the  noblest  desire  and  purest  love.  It 
is  the  home  of  people  made  pure  and  good.  It  is 
the  everlasting  abode  of  men  become  receptive  of 
the  light  of  heavenly  wisdom  and  the  warmth  and 
sweetness  of  heavenly  love.  It  is  a  state  worth  all 
our  exertions  while  on  earth  to  live,  for,  and  a  home 
worth  all  our  hopes  and  prayers  to  die  for.  But 
after  all,  it  is  a  question  of  life,  not  faith  ;  and  we 
must  grow  into  heaven,  by  a  purification  of  the  spirit 
through  the  Lord's  strength,  else  we  shall  never 
realize  the  promises  of  his  Word.  Let  heaven  be  a 
lesson  of  daily  life  to  us  while  on  earth.  For  it  is 
a  thing  of  the  heart ;  it  is  a  struggle  for  nobility  of 
character — purity  and  rectitude  of  purpose  ;  it  is  an 
uprooting  of  innate  selfishness  ;  it  is  a  love  for  all 
mankind  ;  it  is  a  life  in  the  spirit  of  the  Lord.  So 
living,  we  obtain  heaven  here  ;  so  dying,  we  enjoy 
it  hereafter. 


IV. 
THE  LIFE  OF  HEAVEN. 

>  HILE  Jesus  was  preparing  the  minds  of  his 
disciples  for  the  coming  event  of  the  cruci- 
fixion, and  comforting  them  with  words 
designed  to  heighten  their  hopes  and  strengthen 
their  faith,  He  asked  them  to  believe  in  Him ;  to 
have  implicit  confidence  in  his  promises  and  his 
work.  If  they  would  do  this,  He  more  than  inti- 
mated that  all  would  be  well.  He  directed  their 
thoughts  to  heaven  ;  it  was  one  of  the  most  comfort- 
ing reflections  to  which  He  could  lead  them.  "In 
my  Father's  house,"  He  said,  "  are  many  mansions. 
If  it  were  not  so,  I  would  have  told  you.  I  go  to 
prepare  a  place  for  you."  It  was  necessary  that 
He  should  pass  out  of  this  earth-life,  in  order  that 
He  might  arrange  the  heavenly  homes  of  his  follow- 
ers— of  all  who  should  ever  be  his  followers.  No 
matter  at  this  time,  why.  But  a  good  part  of  that 
work  consisted  in  moulding  the  hearts  of  his  dis- 
ciples into  a  heavenly  form  ;  and  this  could  only  be 
done  by  his  laying  down  his  earth-life.  He  said  to 
Peter,  "Whither  I  go,  thou  canst  not  follow  me 
now ;  but  thou  shalt  follow  me  afterwards." 

But  it  was  curious  that  He  should  mention  the 
fact,  as  one  of  his  lessons  of  great  comfort,  that  in 
his  Father's  house  there  were  "  many  mansions  ;  " 
curious,  because  to  the  average,  mind  of  Christen- 

58 


VARIETY  IN  HEAVEN.  59 

dom  it  has  not  seemed  to  prove  a  source  of  comfort. 
The  popular  belief  has  been,  that  heaven  is  one 
uniform  level— one  unvaried  life,  the  same  for  all. 
The  happiness  of  heaven  has  been  thought  to  con- 
sist in  the  hosts  of  the  redeemed,  undistinguished 
by  character,  standing  before  the  throne  with  harps 
in  hand,  singing  without  cessation  eternal  praises 
to  God.  This  and  other  equally  strange  ideas  not 
consonant  with  human  nature,  nor  in  accordance 
with  the  best  desires  of  the  heart,  have  been  among 
the  vain  imaginings  of  men. 

But  Scripture,  rightly  interpreted,  will  never  be 
found  to  ignore  human  nature.  The  infinite  di- 
versity of  tastes,  desires,  characteristics,  sympa- 
thies— the  intense  individuality  of  the  human  soul 
whereby  each  person  who  ever  lived  is  distinguished 
from  every  other,  is  a  birthright  vouchsafed  to  man 
from  God  himself.  God-given,  it  is  right  and  proper 
that  it  should  be  so.  As  there  were  never  two  sets 
of  features  exactly  alike,  as  you  may  wander  the 
earth's  surface  all  over  and  pick  out  your  brother 
or  next  friend  from  every  other  man's  brother  and 
friend,  because  he  is,  in  appearance,  unlike  every 
other  man  that  ever  was  born  ;  so  might  you  wander 
the  world  over  and  never  find  two  hearts,  two  minds 
or  two  souls  exactly  alike.  Each  man  is  himself 
and  nobody  else.  Each  woman  is  herself,  distinctly 
individualized  from  all  other  women.  And  what  is 
remarkable,  the  more  civilized  a  race  is,  the  more 
strongly  individualized  are  its  members ;  and  the 
more  brutalized,  the  less  strongly  so  ;  until,  as  you 
descend  lower  in  the  scale  of  creation  from  men  to 


60  THE  LIFE   OF  HEAVEN. 

beasts,  and  from  thence  to  birds,  fishes,  insects,  the 
less  easy  it  is  to  recognize  a  difference  between  dif- 
ferent individuals  of  the  same  class.  But  perfect 
similarity  is  never  found.  Individuality  weakens 
but  is  never  lost ;  even  in  the  leaves  of  the  forest  or 
the  sands  of  the  sea  it  never  becomes  totally  ob- 
literated. 

But  what  is  still  more  strange,  experience  will  dem- 
onstrate to  those  who  will  take  note  thereof,  that 
the  more  virtuous,  the  more  lovely  in  character,  the 
more  holy  in  life,  the  more  earnest  in  deeds  of  good 
one  becomes,  the  more  this  law  of  distinct  indi- 
viduality deepens,  the  more  marked  the  peculiarities 
of  character,  the  more  different  and  clearly  defined 
every  individual  becomes  from  every  other.  There 
is  no  such  thing  as  absolute  likeness  of  quality  or 
character  throughout  creation.  And  as  the  soul  or 
spirit,  and  not  the  body,  is  the  real  man,  and  as  this 
is  what  goes  to  heaven  and  not  its  earthly  vestment, 
it  is  clear  that  no  two  persons  in  heaven  can  be  pre- 
cisely alike. 

And  as  there  are  distinctions  of  individuals,  so 
there  are  also  general  distinctions  into  classes.  We 
observe  the  division  of  the  human  race  into  several 
families,  as  Caucasians,  Indians,  Mongolians,  and 
Negroes.  We  observe  each  of  these  divided  into 
nations  and  peoples,  each  again  of  their  own  peculiar 
type,  of  their  own  peculiar  class  of  intellect,  taste, 
habit,  custom,  civilization  ;  and  each  even  of  so 
marked  a  physical  type  as  to  render  it  not  difficult 
to  distinguish  them  in  a  mixed  crowd.  Even  in  the 
same  town  or  neighborhood  the  families  divide  off 


MANY  SOCIETIES  IN  HEAVEN.  61 

into  circles  and  groups,  attracted  and  arranged  by 
some  law  of  affinity  which  the  outward  eye  cannot 
detect.  If  it  is  partly  what  the  world  calls  accident, 
it  is  largely  mutual  attraction. 

This  was  the  reason  why  our  Lord  declared  that 
in  his  Father's  house,  or  heaven,  there  are  many 
mansions,  or  various  classes  of  individuals.  Call 
them  societies,  congregations,  communities,  cities, 
or  what  you  please,  the  idea  remains.  The  expression 
is  based  on  a  Jewish  custom.  A  family  or  tribe,  or 
the  descendants  of  any  patriarch  were  called  a  house. 
Thus,  uThe  house  of  David"  is  often  used  as  an 
expression  to  include  all  the  lineage  or  family  of 
David.  When  the  Lord  said,  "I  have  sworn  unto 
the  house  of  Eli  that  the  iniquity  of  Eli's  house  shall 
not  be  purged  with  sacrifice,"  He  does  not  mean 
the  edifice  in  which  Eli  resided,  but  his  lineage, 
race,  kindred  or  tribe.  And  when  we  read  that 
u  there  was  war  between  the  house  of  David  and 
the  house  of  Saul,"  reference  is  had  to  the  descend- 
ants of  those  kings,  their  families  and  followers.  It 
would  have  been  as  well  to  render  the  text  (John 
xiv.  1)  above  cited,  "In  my  Father's  house  are 
many  chambers  ; "  and  this  (to  translate  the  meta- 
phor or  correspondence)  might  be  paraphrased  thus  : 
u  In  the  family  of  God  are  many  families  ;  "  or,  "  In 
the  congregation  of  the  righteous  are  many  congre- 
gations ;"  or,  "In  the  Lord's  heaven  are  many 
heavens."  And  thus  we  find  the  pith  and  marrow 
of  this  text  agreeing  with  what  we  know  of  human 
nature,  its  demands  and  necessities,  and  of  the 
6 


62  THE  LIFE   OF  HEAVEN. 

Lord's  merciful  care  to  adjust  all  things  to  its  in- 
herent laws  and  needs. 

No :  Heaven  is  not  an  unvarying  level.  If  it 
were,  the  Lord  would  have  told  us,  as  He  says. 
But  He  has  not  told  us  so,  but  has  told  us  quite  the 
contrary.  This  is  a  more  important  truth  than  at 
first  might  seem.  For  on  this  we  build  all  our  ideas 
of  the  life  of  the  better  world.  There  is  no  aristoc- 
racy in  heaven.  He  that  seeks  to  be  greatest  there, 
will  certainly  find  himself  least ;  and  he  who  essays 
to  take  the  chief  seat  at  the  marriage  supper  of  re- 
generate souls,  will  unquestionably  be  invited  to 
occupy  the  lowest  seat.  This  also  is  our  Saviour's 
teaching.  There  are  no  arbitrary  class  distinctions 
there,  based  on  the  doctrine  or  conceit,  "  I  am  better 
than  thou." 

But  evidently  if  Hottentots  go  to  heaven,  Hot- 
tentots and  the  most  refined  souls  of  Christendom 
would  not  dwell  together,  simply  because  of  their 
dissimilarity,  and  the  discomfort  that  would  be  mu- 
tually caused  thereby.  No  feeling  of  pride  or  aris- 
tocracy would  enter  into  this  arrangement,  since 
such  feelings  belong  to  hell,  not  to  heaven  ;  and  no 
one  who  entertains  them  could  find  a  place  among 
the  blest.  It  would  be  simply  the  spiritual  law  of 
attraction,  whereby  like  ones  are  drawn  together 
and  bound  together  into  societies. 

We  may,  therefore,  expect  to  find  heaven  as  diverse 
in  its  societies  and  congregations,  its  nations,  tongues 
and  peoples,  as  earth,  leaving  out  earth's  evil.  We 
shall  find  that  all  there  are  good,  and  that  all  at  last 
become  acknowledgers  and  followers  of  the  Lord, 


VARIETY  OF  STATES   THERE.  63 

but  after  an  infinite  variety  of  ways.  Some  will  be 
more  highly  regenerated  than  others.  Some  will  be 
peculiarly  in  the  love  of  one  use,  some  of  another. 
Some  will  have  one  set  of  marked  peculiarities,  some 
another.  Some  will  be  peculiarly  of  the  affectionate 
and  loving  class,  some  will  be  markedly  intellectual 
and  keen-sighted  ;  some  will  be  in  mere  obedience, 
doing  right  simply  because  they  are  told  to  do  right. 
There  is  a  place  for  every  follower  of  the  Lord.  If 
your  spiritual  nature  is  developed  to  a  high  degree, 
so  much  the  better  and  higher  your  position  ;  if  to 
a  less  degree,  still  there  is  a  place.  Peter  and  John 
and  Thomas  were  essentially  different  in  character  ; 
but  our  Lord  had  a  place  and  a  use  in  heaven  for  each. 
So  each  one  of  us  who  is  to  be  saved,  will  have  his 
place  in  heaven.  Our  Lord  has  prepared  a  place 
for  each.  But  there  are  u  many  mansions ;"  and 
the  place  of  one  will  not  be  the  place  of  another. 
Every  one's  place  will  depend  on  his  own  character, 
or  his  mind  and  heart  peculiarities. 

The  Bible,  as  I  have  before  remarked,  does  not  in 
its  letter  lay  down  minute  doctrines  nor  indulge  in 
amplified  descriptions.  It  lays  down  broad  princi- 
ples. It  leads  you  to  a  certain  point,  and  then  says 
(in  substance),  "Think,  reflect,  make  your  own  de- 
ductions ; "  and  there  it  stops.  So  with  reference 
to  the  great  doctrine  of  heaven.  It  gives  us  princi- 
ples and  asks  us  to  build  on  them.  It  tells  us  that 
heaven  is  a  spiritural  realm  consisting  of  innumer- 
able societies ;  and  we  reflect  upon  human  nature, 
and  see  in  a  moment  why. 

Now  there  is  another  doctrine  of  our  Lord,  which 


64  THE  LIFE   OF  HEAVEN. 

leads  us  on  beyond  this,  and  unfolds  for  us  the  main 
idea  of  life  in  heaven.  It  does  not  say,  "Angels 
spend  their  time  in  doing  thus  and  so."  but  it  gives 
us  the  principle  on  which  we  are  justified  in  build- 
ing. This  doctrine  is  set  forth  in  the  parable  of  the 
sheep  and  goats.*  The  Lord  is  judging  those  who 
have  left  this  world  ;  and  in  rendering  judgment,  He 
is  represented  as  explaining  the  principle  according 
to  which  the  separation  takes  place.  It  is  likened  to 
the  case  of  a  shepherd  who  is  dividing  his  sheep  from 
his  goats.  The  heirs  of  hell  are  compared  to  the  goats, 
those  of  heaven  to  the  sheep.  The  infernal  king- 
dom into  which  the  lost  go,  is  here  the  left  hand ; 
the  heavenly  kingdom  which  is  for  the  righteous  is 
called  the  right  hand. 

Now  the  great  dividing  line  between  angels  and 
their  opposites,  the  great  principle  upon  which 
the  division  takes  place,  is  unequivocally  set  forth. 
There  is  no  circumlocution  about  it ;  we  have  it  in 
the  plainest  language.  It  is  not  faith  alone,  nor 
predestination,  nor  belonging  to  any  sect  which  as- 
sumes to  be  THE  CHURCH  ;  nor  is  it  joining  the 
church,  nor  any  peculiar  form  of  baptism,  nor  any 
other  distinction  which  men  have  made.  Let  us 
see,  then,  what  it  is. 

Our  Lord  who  alone  is  able  to  judge  all  hearts, 
says  to  those  assembled  on  his  right  hand,  that  is, 
in  heaven,  "Come  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit 
the  kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation 
of  the  world.  For  I  was  an  hungered,  and  ye  gave 

*  Matt.  xxv.  31-46. 


VARIOUS  MINISTRATIONS.  65 

me  meat ;  I  was  thirsty,  and  ye  gave  me  drink ;  I 
was  a  stranger,  and  ye  took  me  in ;  naked,  and  ye 
clothed  me ;  I  was  sick,  and  ye  visited  me  ;  I  was 
in  prison,  and  ye  came  unto  me."  But  as  the  mass 
of  men  have  never  even  had  the  opportunity  to  do 
such  things  for  their  Lord,  He  explains  further  what 
He  means  by  this,  and  says:  "Inasmuch  as  ye 
have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  my 
brethren,  ye  have  done  it  unto  me."  But  to  those 
who  are  on  his  left  hand,  to  the  lost,  in  remanding 
them  to  their  destination,  He  says:  UI  was  an 
hungered,  and  ye  gave  me  no  meat ;  I  was  thirsty, 
and  ye  gave  me  no  drink  ;  I  was  a  stranger,  and  ye 
took  me  not  in  ;  naked,  and  ye  clothed  me  not ;  sick 
and  in  prison,  and  ye  visited  me  not."  But  as  the 
opportunity  to  do  or  not  to  do  so  personally  to  the 
Lord,  may  never  have  been  presented,  they  also 
receive  the  explanation:  " Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it 
not  to  one  of  the  least  of  these,  ye  did  it  not  to  me." 
u  And  these,"  it  is  added — that  is,  they  who  did  not 
these  things — u  shall  go  away  into  everlasting  pun- 
ishment ;  but  the  righteous  " — they  who  did  them — 
uinto  life  eternal." 

Now,  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  feeding  the 
hungry,  giving  drink  to  the  thirsty,  clothing  the 
naked,  and  ministering  to  the  stranger,  the  sick  and 
imprisoned,  are  all  the  duties  of  life  which  qualify 
us  for  heaven.  But  these,  as  important  ministra- 
tions of  charity,  stand  for  all  the  well-known  duties 
of  life.  They  stand  also  for  the  correlative  spiritual 
duties  of  ministering  to  those  who  are  hungry  for 
genuine  disinterested  love,  or  thirsty  for  God's  truth; 
6*  E 


66  THE  LIFE   OF  HEAVEN. 

to  those  who  are  spiritually  naked,  lacking  the  robes 
of  righteousness  ;  who  are  strangers  to  the  just  de- 
mands of  the  Lord's  precepts,  and  the  glorious  truths 
of  his  holy  Word  ;  who  are  spiritually  sick  because 
of  sin,  and  are  prisoners  in  that  worst  of  all  Bas- 
tiles,  self  and  the  world.  In  fact,  the  truly  Chris- 
tian life  consists  in  living  for  others,  in  ministering 
to  others,  in  considering  the  rights  of  others,  in 
loving  and  serving  others.  The  true  Christian  is 
not  in  the  love  of  self,  but  in  the  love  of  use  ;  not 
in  the  love  of  the  world  and  its  pleasures  for  his  own 
sake,  but  in  the  love  of  seeing  how  much  use  he  can 
make  of  the  world  in  ministering  to  the  good  of 
others,  and  to  their  legitimate  pleasures.  This 
love  of  use,  this  love  for  the  neighbor  and  his  good, 
the  Lord  accepts  as  personal  devotion  to  Himself. 
You  cannot  love  the  neighbor  without  loving  the 
Lord.  The  one  leads  up  to  the  other,  and  culminates 
in  it*  And  the  Lord  demands  of  you  a  spirit  which 
prompts  you  to  serve  your  neighbor,  which  you  can 
do  ;  and  He  accepts  this  in  lieu  of  that  personal  ser- 
vice to  Himself,  which  you  cannot  give. 

"Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the 
least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  have  done  it  unto 
me." 

Heaven  is  essentially  in  the  heart.  Heaven  in 
the  heart,  is  the  spirit  of  unselfishness  manifested 
in  a  love  of  being  of  real  use  to  others  in  all  the 
walks  and  ways  of  life.  Earth  is  the  school  in  which 
man  is  placed  to  cultivate  this  spirit,  and  make  it 
his  own.  If  he  does  this,  he  gains  a  residence  in 
the  heavenly  world  beyond  the  grave,  because  his 


THE  RULING   LOVE   IN  HEAVEN.  67 

heart  is  in  complete  accord  with  the  spirit  of  those 
who  dwell  there,  and  which  makes  it  heaven  ;  if  he 
does  not,  he  gravitates  to  the  other  side  and  enters 
into  the  companionship  of  the  wicked,  simply  he- 
cause  his  heart  is  in  accord  with  the  spirit  of  selfish- 
ness which  dwells  among  them. 

We  conclude,  therefore,  that  as  the  very  spirit 
which  fits  the  soul  for  heaven  is  the  love  of  use, — 
the  love  of  ministering  in  all  possible  and  imaginable 
ways  to  the  good  of  others,  that  spirit  constitutes 
the  very  life  of  heaven.  I  do  not  mean  its  senti- 
mental life  merely,  but  its  actual,  practical,  every- 
day work  and  worship.  This,  of  course,  ignores 
the  literal  standing  before  the  throne,  the  endless 
striking  of  the  celestial  harps,  the  everlasting  psalm 
and  song.  Why  not  ?  For  these  are  quite  useless 
things.  Of  what  possible  benefit  can  they  be  ?  Can 
they  do  good  to  God,  the  perfect  One  ?  You  cannot 
do  good  to  Him  ;  and  because  you  cannot,  He  has 
told  you  that  your  heirship  to  hea-ven  depends  on 
your  loving  and  doing  good  to  the  neighbor ;  and 
He  accepts  that  as  good  done  to  Himself.  But  the 
spirit  of  heaven  is  use  ;  the  life  of  heaven  is  use ; 
the  love  that  prevails  in  heaven  is  the  love  of  use. 
Take  off  your  golden  crowns,  hang  up  your  harps, 
and  go  forth  into  heaven  to  see  what  good  your 
hands-  may  find  to  do.  You  will  find  it  a  happier 
life,  a  nobler  and  more  exalted  life,  a  purer  and  more 
God-like  life  than  any  psalm  the  lips  can  sing.  The 
Son  of  Man,  your  God  and  Lord,  came  to  earth  to 
minister  and  serve.  He  found  other  work  than 
merely  singing  psalms.  He  is  your  exemplar,  both 


68  THE  LIFE   OF  HEAVEN. 

for  earth  and  heaven.  That  spirit  acquired  is  the 
highest  life  known  in  all  the  universe.  It  is  the 
source  of  the  purest  and  most  exalted  bliss  that  can 
thrill  the  heart.  It  is  the  only  heaven  known  to 
angel  or  to  God.  It  is  difficult  ?  That  does  not 
alter  the  truth.  It  is  contrary  to  the  prevailing 
opinion  of  men  ?  That  does  not  detract  from  the 
fact  that  it  is  the  plain  teaching  of  the  Lord.  It  is 
impossible  ?  That  is  the  suggestion  of  a  false  and 
evil  spirit ;  the  whisper  of  the  serpent  of  sensuality 
in  the  Eden  of  your  own  heart,  tempting  you  as  a 
son  of  Adam  to  believe  that  God  has  lied. 

To  give  even  a  general  idea  of  the  employments 
of  the  angels  were  out  of  the  question  here.  They 
must  be  usefully  employed.  A  good  man  without 
employment  is  a  very  unhappy  being.  The  happi- 
ness of  heaven,  then,  must  unquestionably  result 
from  useful  employment.  True,  we  shall  there  be 
lifted  above  the  necessity  of  the  coarse  manual  labor 
of  earth.  Here-  we  please  the  eye,  and  touch  the 
heart,  and  refine  the  feelings,  and  give  comfort  and 
delight  to  others  by  the  labor  of  our  hands.  But 
there  where  toil  is  unknown  we  shall  perform  these 
pleasing  duties  in  a  less  laborious  way.  The  best 
work  of  life  is,  after  all,  addressed  to  the  mind  and 
heart,  not  to  the  body.  Our  social  intercourse,  our 
conversation,  our  instruction,  our  influence  on  our 
children  and  friends,  our  worship,  and  innumerable 
other  things,  are  for  the  improvement  and  joy  of  the 
soul  and  not  for  the  mere  comfort  or  ease  of  the  body. 
These  are  what  will  follow  us  to  heaven.  We  shall 
drop  all  those  labors  that  the  body  and  its  support 


DISTINCTION  OF  SEX   THERE.  69 

required,  and  shall  direct  our  energies  to  the  culti- 
vation and  improvement  of  the  soul.  Our  fields  will 
bloom  without  toil  under  the  sunlight  of  God,  but 
the  broad  field  of  inquiry  into  all  subjects  of  mental 
or  spiritual  interest  will  have  enlarged  a  thousand- 
fold. Is  the  soul  the  real  man  and  the  body  merely 
the  machine  through  which  it  speaks  and  acts  in 
the  world,  and  shall  not  the  soul  which  is  the  only 
thing  that  survives  death  and  was  the  only  thing 
that  did  the  speaking  and  acting  here,  enjoy  there 
the  pleasures  of  conversation  on  the  highest  themes  ? 
The  angels  talked  to  the  patriarchs,  prophets  and 
apostles  ;  and  shall  not  we,  if  we  become  angels, 
converse  one  with  another  ?  The  angels  recognized 
Abraham,  Lot,  Isaac,  Jacob,  Joseph,  John,  Peter, 
and  Paul ;  and  shall  not  we,  when  we  come  to 
angels'  estate,  recognize  each  other  ?  Does  the 
soul  lose  its  identity  because  the  material  body 
which  was  only  a  temporary  garment,  has  dropped 
from  it  ?  The  difference  of  character  is  ingrained 
in  the  spirit,  and  the  male  mind  is  masculine  and 
the  female  mind  feminine  by  virtue  of  their  consti- 
tution as  spiritual  beings ;  and  shall  there  not  be 
distinctions  of  sex  in  heaven  ?  The  holiest  mar- 
riages on  earth  are  not  of  convenience,  or  for  money 
or  personal  attractions,  or  from  animal  instinct,  but 
from  mutual  adaptibility,  and  from  genuine  sympa- 
thy of  mind  with  mind,  and  because  it  is  misery  to 
the  parties  to  live  apart ;  and  will  there  be  no  true 
wedded  life  in  heaven  ?  The  happiest  condition  of 
life  on  earth  is  found  in  the  family  ties  of  a  peaceful 
and  well-ordered  home  ;  and  shall  those  connections 


70  THE  LIFE   OF  HEAVEN. 

which  true  hearts  most  yearn  for  here,  be  utterly 
obliterated  there  ?  Were  the  natural  body  the  real 
man,  and  all  there  is  of  us,  and  were  these  yearnings 
and  instincts  seated  in  the  body,  we  should  answer, 
Yes.  But  as  the  soul  is  the  real  man.  and  they  are 
all  seated  in  the  soul,  and  it  is  the  soul  which  goes 
to  heaven,  the  answer  must  be,  No. 

If  the  purer  and  nobler  people  become,  the  less 
they  lore  these  ties  of  marriage,  family,  home  and 
friends,  then  we  might  easily  believe  them  obliter- 
ated from  the  life  of  heaven.  But  since  the  contrary 
is  the  case,  and  since  we  become  more  heavenly- 
minded  the  purer  these  ties  become  and  the  more 
we  love  them,  therefore  we  may  reasonably  con- 
clude that  all  these  ties  exist  in  the  better  land. 
And  so  they  do.  There,  where  our  real  selves  and 
our  truly  human  instincts  have  freer  play,  are  wed- 
ded lives  and  family  ties  ;  homes,  companionships, 
and  friends,  the  pleasures  of  mental  culture,  the 
joys  of  heart  refinement,  with  a  better  field  for  the 
cultivation  of  our  spiritual  nature,  which  the  ab- 
sence of  care  for  bodily  necessities  must  afford. 
Added  to  this,  the  angels  are  ministering  spirits  to 
men— so  the  Scriptures  assure  us.  As  the  vast 
caravan  of  departed  souls  continues  its  daily  march 
from  earth  to  the  world  beyond,  they  have  the  edu- 
cation of  such  of  its  men,  women  and  children  as 
are  willing  to  be  instructed  and  led  into  a  prepara- 
tion for  the  life  of  heaven.  Were  they  present  with 
the  patriarchs,  and  are  they  not  with  us  ?  Watched 
they  by  the  cradle  of  John,  and  follow  they  not  with 
us  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave  ?  Sang  they  to 


HUMAN  AND  SOCIAL.  71 

Bethlehem's  shepherds,  and  have  they  never  chant- 
ed an  anthem  (though  inaudible)  to  any  wondering, 
watching  heart  of  earth  from  that  glad  day  to  this  ? 
Kejoiced  they  over  the  repentant  sinners  of  Jesus' 
day,  and  feel  they  no  interest  in  those  of  our 
own  ? 

Let  us  not  deceive  ourselves.  Let  us  not  shut 
our  ears  at  the  bidding  of  human  traditions,  to  the 
voice  of  truth  which  speaks  from  the  holy  Word  of 
God.  The  life  of  heaven  is  a  wondrously  human 
and  social  life.  Far  more  so  than  that  of  earth, 
since  it  is  purer,  holier,  more  unselfish,  fuller  of 
disinterested  love  ;  far  more  so,  since  it  is  unalloyed 
by  the  earthly  taint  that  so  often  mars  the  pleasures 
of  this  world's  social  sphere.  Minds  are  brighter, 
intellects  are  keener,  hearts  are  holier,  purposes  are 
nobler,  worship  is  purer,  the  whole  field  of  heavenly 
science  is  more  open  for  study  and  contemplation. 
Melodies  more  full  of  celestial  harmonies  than  earth 
e'er  dreamed  of;  poetry  whose  rhythmic  flow  is 
flooded  with  soul  that  never  yet  has  reached  the 
world ;  ministries  to  lower  spirits  and  to  men,  so 
gentle,  tender  and  loving,  that  it  only  shows  how 
mad  we  are  to  reject  them  as  we  do  ;  sabbaths  of 
worship  all  filled  with  the  spirit  of  the  Lord,  to 
rouse  their  noblest  endeavors  and  thrill  with  joy 
their  inmost  souls ;  all  services  that  elevate  the 
angel  or  tend  to  ennoble  man,  of  whatever  kind 
those  services  may  be  ; — these,  and  perhaps  a  thou- 
sand uses  yet  unknown  and  incredible  to  men  on 
earth,  may  occupy  the  angelic  hosts  to  all  eternity. 
But  each,  working  in  his  own  way,  according  to  his 


72  THE  LIFE   OF  HEAVEN. 

own  ability  and  on  his  own  plane,  be  that  plane 
high  or  low. 

And  what  of  the  scenery  amid  which  the  angels 
live?  We  have  the  testimony  of  Scripture  that 
scenery  does  exist  there.  In  the  visions  of  Ezekiel, 
Zechariah  and  John,  who  were  in  the  spirit,  and  be- 
held heaven  opened  and  saw  visions  of  God,  we  find, 
it  is  true,  but  a  limited  field,  and  that  for  defined  and 
special  purposes ;  but  we  observe,  nevertheless,  those 
visions  peopled  with  angelic  beings  conversant  with 
the  affairs  of  heaven  and  men  ;  filled  with  mountains 
and  valleys,  hills  and  plains,  rivers  and  seas,  houses 
and  temples.  This  reveals  the  fact  that  heaven  is 
a  real  world  of  scenery  palpable  to  the  senses.  It 
must  be  so.  Angels  would  scarcely  be  gifted  with 
sight  if  there  were  nothing  to  see  ;  or  with  hearing 
if  there  were  nothing  to  hear.  But  Paul  teaches 
us,  as  before  remarked,  that  we  are  not  raised  with 
natural,  but  with  spiritual  bodies.  Our  senses,  then, 
in  the  other  life,  are  of  a  spiritual,  not  of  a  natural 
order.  Now  spirit  through  material  eyes  can  see 
material  things  ;  but,  evidently,  through  spiritual 
eyes,  only  spiritual  things.  These  prophets  of  old 
say  they  were  u  in  the  spirit  "  when  they  had  their 
visions.  That  is,  what  they  saw  was  cognizable  by 
the  spiritual  not  by  the  bodily  sight.  There  is  but 
one  conclusion :  Spirit  is  essentially  different  from 
matter.  As  a  spiritual  body  differs  from  a  natural 
body  and  spiritual  sight  from  natural  sight,  so  the 
objects  of  spiritual  vision  differ  essentially  from  those 
of  natural  vision.  But  this  makes  them  none  the 


THE  SOUL'S  CREATIONS.  73 

less  real  on  their  own  plane  of  existence.     This  much 
we  get  from  Scripture. 

Now  let  us  appeal  to  our  own  knowledge  of  the 
operations  of  the  soul.  We  observe  that  the  spirit 
of  man  has  the  power  of  creating  its  own  world  of 
vision.  Each  one's  experience  has  taught  him  this. 
I  refer  to  the  phenomena  of  sleep  and  dreams.  Set 
at  rest  the  bodily  senses,  and  the  creative  powers 
of  the  soul  are  quickened.  Even  when  awake,  think ! 
Think  of  a  house  you  plan,  of  an  act  you  contem- 
plate, of  anything,  no  matter  what,  and  the  scene 
or  object  is  projected  before  your  mind's  eye.  You 
cannot  think  without  projecting  a  mental  picture 
before  the  soul.  Try  it,  and  you  will  see.  But  this 
is  comparatively  dim,  and  it  is  only  the  present 
thought.  Sleep,  however — let  each  bodily  thought 
become  quiescent ;  dream — and  your  then  present 
state  of  mind  takes  form  in  a  living  world.  The 
reality  of  it  is  almost  startling.  In  your  dream  you 
would  laugh  at  any  one's  questioning  its  reality. 
It  is  only  when  you  return  to  the  world  that  you 
doubt  its  actual  existence.  Yet  that  was  a  creation 
of  the  soul  or  mind.  The  temporary  state  of  thought 
and  feeling  in  which  it  then  was,  no  matter  from 
what  cause  suggested  or  by  what  accident  produced, 
spread  itself  around  you,  beautifully  pictured  before 
your  vision,  or  fantastically  fleeting,  according  to 
circumstances.  In  sleep,  however,  there  is  a  soul- 
slumber  as  well  as  a  body-slumber.  Some  faculties 
are  alive,  some  dormant.  Your  world  is  more  or 
less  imperfect,  evanescent,  unreal.  It  only  proves 
the  power  of  the  soul,  on  its  own  plane  and  in  its 
7 


74  THE  LIFE   OF  HEAVEN. 

own  sphere,  to  create  worlds.  But  strip  the  soul  of 
its  body  entirely  ;  set  it  fully  awake  and  alive  to  its 
wants  and  necessities  on  its  own  plane,  arouse  it  to 
full  activity  and  volition,  and  will  you  not  find  your 
outward  soul-world  to  be  a  work  of  creation  wrought 
out  by  spiritual  law  through  your  own  mind  ?  Every 
object  will  be  real — all  things  tangible  ;  not  indeed 
to  the  body,  but  to  the  spirit.  Your  world  will  then 
be  what  you  are  ;  your  house  just  what  you  want 
it ;  your  garden  blooming  with  the  flowers  of  your 
choice.  The  concentrated  creation  of  a  society 
of  angels  would  surround  them  with  permanent 
scenery,  the  precise  creation  of  their  own  loves  and 
tastes,  the  exact  correspondences  of  their  own 
thoughts  and  affections.  It  would  be  a  spirit  world; 
and  that  is  the  kind  the  spirit  wants  ;  not  evanescent, 
because  according  to  the  combined,  general,  fixed 
state  of  that  angelic  society  ;  surpassingly  lovely, 
because  in  correspondence  with  hearts  filled  with 
the  breath  of  love ;  harmonious  with  the  feelings, 
tastes  and  thoughts,  because  actually  brought  forth 
by  them.  It  is  not  unreasonable  to  believe  from 
what  we  know  of  our  own  souls  and  their  creative 
operations,  that  God  creates  the  phenomena  of  the 
world  beyond  through  the  spirits  of  those  who 
dwell  there  ;  that  the  scenery  of  heaven  is  a  visi- 
ble embodiment  of  the  pure  thoughts,  the  unself- 
ish loves  and  the  heavenly  tastes  of  the  angels 
themselves. 

But,  think  of  this  as  we  may,  the  Scripture  testi- 
mony, so  far  as  it  goes,  is  clear  and  explicit.  On 
this,  then,  repose  your  faith  ;  here  rest  your  hopes  ; 


BEAUTIFUL   AND  HUMAN.  75 

on  this  build  your  firm  foundation ;  and  you  shall 
have  a  heaven  presented  for  your  acceptance,  so 
real,  so  human,  so  life-like,  so  beautiful,  that  if  you 
will  only  live  for  it,  and  regulate  your  lives  accord- 
ing to  what  you  really  know  of  it,  you  shall  find  all 
that  is  worth  having,  all  that  is  worth  living  for  or 
gaining,  all  that  justifies  the  Lord  in  creating  us  to 
live  forever,  sweetly  centred  in  its  bosom. 


Y. 

CONNECTION  OF  EAETH  WITH  HEAVEN. 


followed  the  angels  from  their  be- 
ginnings as  men  on  earth,  through  their 
development  and  resurrection  into  the  heav- 
enly land,  let  us  now  return  with  them  again  to 
the  world. 

That  was  a  beautiful  dream  which  Jacob  had,  as 
he  tarried  all  night  at  Bethel  on  his  way  from  Beer- 
sheba  to  Haran.*  With  stones  for  his  pillow,  he 
lay  himself  down  to  sleep.  He  dreamed  ;  and  be- 
hold a  ladder  set  upon  the  earth,  and  the  top  of  it 
reached  to  heaven  ;  the  angels  of  God  were  ascend- 
ing and  descending  on  it,  and  above  it  stood  the 
Lord. 

The  incidents  of  this  dream  are  not  related  as  the 
phantasmagoria  of  the  brain.  They  are  spoken  of 
as  an  absolute  revealment  of  the  Lord  and  his  angels. 
There  is  an  actual  prophecy  there  recorded  as  hav- 
ing been  positively  and  divinely  delivered  ;  and  that 
prophecy  was  in  due  time  fulfilled.  I  believe  there 
is  not  an  event  recorded  in  the  Scripture  which  does 
not  contain  a  lesson  of  the  utmost  importance  to 
man.  I  believe  that,  when  viewed  in  their  true 
spirit,  these  lessons  culled  from  widely-sundered 
portions  of  the  Bible,  will  be  found  harmonious  in 

*  Gen.  xxviii.  10-12. 

76 


ANGELS   WITH  MEN.  77 

all  their  parts.  This  position  we  will  now  proceed 
to  test,  by  briefly  reviewing  the  Scripture  doctrine 
of  the  connection  of  angels  with  men. 

But  first  let  us  remember  a  point  which  has  already 
been  considered  :  that  there  is  no  Bible  doctrine  of 
angels  originally  created  such  ;  that  angels  are  sim- 
ply regenerated  men  ;  that  they  began  their  career 
on  earth  ;  were  born  as  you  and  I  were  born ;  and 
were  developed  into  spirits  of  purer,  nobler  and  di- 
viner mould  through  the  labor,  struggle  and  battles 
of  this  world's  life,  as  you  and  I  will  be  if  we  are 
true  to  the  Lord  and  ourselves. 

With  what  Jacob  believed  in  relation  to  this  mat- 
ter we  are  not  concerned.  With  what  he  saw,  we 
are.  And  we  may  rest  assured  that  the  Jewish  pa- 
triarch was  not  more  under  the  protecting  care  of 
the  Lord's  providence  than  any  other  individual  of 
his  race  ;  not  more  than  any  other  child  of  God  that 
ever  lived.  The  Lord  is  not  partial  in  his  dealings 
with  men  ;  the  laws  of  his  providence  are  universal 
both  in  their  nature  and  application  ;  and  if  He  and 
his  angels  followed  Jacob  from  Bethel  to  Haran,  He 
follows  every  one  that  ever  was  born  with  the  an- 
gels of  his  mercy  in  every  journey  of  life  ;  in  all  their 
developments  of  mind  and  heart ;  in  the  least  event 
and  incident  in  the  grand  journey  itself,  which  each 
must  make  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave.  It  is  the 
peculiarity  of  the  Bible  that  the  lesson  to  the  indi- 
vidual is  a  lesson  to  the  entire  race  ;  that  the  spir- 
itual or  supernatural  experiences  of  one  man,  are 
Divine  teachings  for  all.  That  is  why  they  are  re- 
corded. Were  it  not  so,  the  record  would  be  useless. 
7* 


78     CONNECTION  OF  EARTH    WITH  HEAVEN. 

What  happened  to  Jacob,  then,  has  been  set  down 
for  our  instruction :  otherwise  it  had  beeta  better 
left  out.  What  happened  to  Jacob  is  more  than  an 
idle  dream  ;  otherwise  it  were  no  part  of  the  Word 
•  of  God.  What  happened  to  him  is  an  eternal  truth 
of  universal  application  ;  otherwise  it  takes  its  place 
with  the  fairy  tales  of  the  nursery. 

I  dwell  upon  this,  because  it  is  so  common  to  ac- 
cept the  Scripture  in  a  general  way  as  the  Word  of 
God,  and  to  relegate  to  the  realm  of  fancy  some  of 
its  most  valuable  teachings ;  to  acknowledge  in  a 
certain  sense  the  hand  of  God  in  the  production  of 
the  Book,  yet  entertain  a  mental  reservation  that 
whatever  in  it  is  supernatural  is  a  sort  of  Hebrew 
mythology.  But  this  supernatural  element  is  the 
very  foundation  upon  which  the  whole  edifice  is 
built.  Take  it  away,  and  you  have  no  Bible.  Take 
it  away,  and  there  are  no  connecting  links  to  hold 
its  parts  together.  Eliminate  from  the  Scripture 
its  supernatural  element,  and  you  have  taken  all 
the  Scripture  out.  It  is  the  one  consistent  idea 
running  through  the  sacred  volume  from  Genesis  to 
Revelation,  which  gives  it  form  and  coherence  and 
meaning.  And  you  might  as  well  undertake  to 
write  a  history  of  Borne  on  the  theory  that  Borne 
itself  was  a  myth,  as  to  assert  the  verity  of  the 
Scripture  with  the  mental  reservation  that  the  su- 
pernatural element,  including  God  and  his  angels 
and  their  ways  with  men,  is  the  vain  conceit  of  hu- 
man imagination. 

The  dream  of  Jacob  contains  an  important  lesson. 
And  to  those  to  whom,  as  Jacobs  of  a  later  day,  the 


MEANING    OF  JACOB'S  DREAM.  79 

sun  of  religion  has  set,  and,  in  relation  to  the  things 
of  heaven  and  God,  the  obscurity  of  a  mental  night 
now  rests  upon  their  hearts,  and  whose  heads  are 
pillowed  on  the  hard  stones  of  the  truths  of  science 
and  nature  and  the  bare  letter  of  the  Word,  unre- 
lieved by  the  higher  light,  a  dream  of  this  kind 
would  be  a  good  and  unexpected  gift. 

The  ladder  of  Jacob's  dream  represented  the  lad- 
der of  life — the  path  from  earth  to  heaven.  It  was 
set  upon  earth  and  its  top  reached  to  heaven,  to 
show  that  the  great  journey  of  existence  begins  on 
earth  ;  and,  if  rightly  traveled,  reaches  by  constant 
climbing  unto  heaven.  The  angels  did  not  descend 
and  ascend  ;  they  ascended  and  descended.  This 
teaches  us  that  we  must  first  rise  to  angelhood,  first 
ascend  in  mind  and  thought  and  acquired  purity  to 
heaven,  where,  in  the  after  life,  we  are  accepted  as 
angels  of  God  ;  and  then  we  may  descend  again  to 
earth  to  become  the  ministering  spirits  of  men. 
Above  it  stands  the  Lord,  watching  in  his  provi- 
dence the  pathway  of  man,  and  making  use  of  those 
mortals  who  have  attained  to  angelhood,  as  the 
constant  ministers  and  messengers  of  his  mercy  and 
care.  So  impressed  was  Jacob  with  the  reality  of 
his  vision,  that  he  exclaimed  as  he  awoke,  u  Surely 
the  Lord  is  in  this  place."  And  he  erected  a  pillar 
on  the  spot  to  commemorate  the  event ;  and  he 
called  the  place  Beth-El — the  house  of  God. 

It  was  not  the  first,  but  one  of  the  earliest  lessons 
of  the  Lord  to  the  patriarchs,  teaching  them  of  God's 
constant  care  of  man  by  the  ministry  of  angels.  He 
had,  however,  previously  vouchsafed  to  Abraham 


80     CONNECTION  OF  EARTH   WITH  HEAVEN. 

a  vision  of  these  angels,  who  entertained  them  un- 
awares. Lot  had  been  led  forth  by  the  ministry 
of  angels,  and  saved  from  the  impending  doom  of 
Sodom.  Hagar  had  been  met  at  the  fountain  and 
comforted  in  her  sore  distress  by  an  angel  of  the 
Lord.  There  could  be  no  doubt  but  that  it  was  the 
express  desire  of  the  Lord  to  impress  upon  the 
Jewish  mind,  as  at  that  time  the  only  acceptors  of 
any  immediate  revelation  from  Him,  two  or  three 
leading  ideas,  to  be  more  fully  developed  under 
later  dispensations.  These  were,  the  existence  of 
one  God ;  his  constant  watchfulness  over  all  the 
ways  of  men  ;  and  his  use  of  angels  as  ministering 
spirits  to  protect  and  care  for  them. 

The  germs  of  truth  must  be  implanted  somewhere 
in  that  age  of  universal  error  ;  and  the  Jews  were 
chosen  as  the  race  to  whom  they  were  to  be  deliv- 
ered. How  far  they  themselves  believed  in  the  im- 
mortality of  the  soul ;  whether  they  were  aware  of 
the  fact  that  these  angels  had  once,  like  themselves, 
been  men  on  earth— these  questions  do  not  concern 
us  here.  It  is  the  fact  that  the  great  truths  of  the 
existence  of  Jehovah  and  his  angels,  and  of  their 
watchful  care  over  men,  were  so  carefully  taught 
and  so  solemnly  recorded,  with  which  we  have  to 
do.  These  are  not  mythological  statements.  They 
are  recorded  as  solemn  facts.  And  by  the  angels 
whom  Abraham  entertained  on  the  plains  of  Mamre, 
by  him  who  announced  to  Sarah  the  birth  of  her 
child,  by  the  comforter  of  Hagar  in  the  wilderness, 
by  the  saviors  of  Lot  at  Sodom,  by  the  angelic  voice 
which  counseled  Abraham  to  withhold  the  knife 


MINISTRY  OF  ANGELS.  81 

from  the  bosom  of  his  son,  by  him  who  went  before 
the  servant  of  Isaac  to  make  all  things  favorable  for 
his  marriage,  we  are  taught  that  there  is  such  a 
thing  as  the  ministration,  visible  and  invisible,  of 
angels  with  men,  and  that  there  exists  an  intimate 
connection  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  other  world 
with  those  of  this.  Then  came  the  vision  in  which 
it  was  reasserted  to  Jacob  at  Bethel.  Next  to  the 
announcement  of  the  existence  and  unity  of  God,  it 
is  the  primary  and  leading  truth  of  revelation  ;  as- 
serted not  once  or  twice,  but,  we  might  say,  a  thou- 
sand times ;  a  doctrine  which  surrounds  and  en- 
twines itself  with  every  important  event  narrated 
in  Scripture  ;  an  absolute  and  reiterated  truth  of 
God. 

Is  it  not  so  ?  Through  the  long  journey  of  forty 
years  from  Egypt  to  Canaan,  angels  went  before 
the  hosts  of  Israel,  covering  their  retreat  on  the  one 
hand  and  guarding  their  advance  on  the  other. 
u  Behold,"  saith  the  Lord,  "  I  send  an  angel  before 
thee  to  keep  thee  in  the  way,  and  to  bring  thee  into 
the  place  which  I  have  prepared;"*  and  in  the 
language  of  Scripture,  an  angelic  host  is  often  called 
an  angel.  Were  they  not  with  the  Israelites  in  their 
conquest  of  Canaan  ?  For  again  the  Lord  says : 
"  I  will  send  an  angel  before  thee  ;  and  I  will  drive 
out  the  Amorite,  and  the  Hittite,  and  the  Perizzite, 
and  the  Hivite,  and  the  Jebusite."t  All  through 
the  chronicle  of  sacred  history  these  angels  reap- 
pear. With  a  mighty  host  they  surrounded  the 

*  Ex.  xxiii.  20.  f  Ex-  xxxiii.  2. 


82     CONNECTION  OF  EARTH   WITH  HEAVEN. 

city  of  Dothan  to  take  their  part  in  the  discomfit- 
ure of  the  Syrians.  To  Joshua,  at  the  siege  of  Jer- 
icho, the  leader  of  the  invisible  host  who  interfered 
in  the  contest  for  the  protection  of  the  Israelites, 
appeared  and  proclaimed  himself  the  captain  of  the 
Lord's  host.  At  Sennacherib  it  was  an  angel  who 
totally  destroyed  the  Assyrian  army.  And  to  Dan- 
iel the  angel  Gabriel  announced  the  doctrine  of 
ministering  angels  presiding  even  over  the  destinies 
and  affairs  of  nations. 

It  was  an  angel  who  rebuked  Israel  at  Bochim 
and  who  obstructed  the  wicked  path  of  Balaam. 
It  was  an  angel  who  announced  to  Gideon  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Lord,  and  who  instructed  Manoah 
and  his  wife  concerning  their  son  Samson.  It  was 
an  angel  that  came  to  the  deliverance  of  the  three 
Hebrew  brethren  who  were  cast  by  the  order  of 
Nebuchadnezzar  into  the  furnace  of  fire.  Isaiah 
and  Jeremiah,  Elijah  and  Elisha,  Ezekiel,  Daniel, 
and  Zechariah  were,  at  all  times,  under  their  in- 
struction, protection  and  guidance.  To  catalogue 
completely  the  instances  of  angel  ministrations  an- 
nounced in  the  Old  Testament,  were  almost  to  sum 
up  the  entire  record. 

Nor  does  this  doctrine  of  the  ministry  of  angels 
close  with  the  Jewish  dispensation.  Neither  is  it 
treated  by  Jesus,  by  his  apostles,  or  by  the  Gospels, 
as  a  mere  tradition  of  the  Jews.  But  angels  appear 
with  full  activity  in  the  remarkable  events  which 
accompany  the  ushering  in  and  establishment  of 
the  Christian  dispensation.  By  an  angel  was  the 
birth  of  John  the  Baptist  foretold  to  his  father  ;  by 


SCRIPTURE   TESTIMONY.  83 

an  angel  the  birth  of  Jesus  to  Mary  of  Nazareth. 
Angels  espoused  the  cause  of  Mary  to  Joseph,  warned 
the  latter  of  the  wrath  of  Herod,  sent  him  with 
the  young  child,  Jesus,  into  Egypt,  and  command- 
ed his  return.  Angels  sang  their  rejoicings  over 
Jesus  in  the  presence  of  the  Bethlehem  shepherds, 
ministered  to  the  Saviour  after  his  temptations  in 
the  wilderness,  watched  by  his  tomb  at  the  resur- 
rection, comforted  his  disciples  after  He  had  risen. 

Nor  yet,  in  the  establishment  of  the  infant  church, 
was  it  to  and  in  behalf  of  Jesus  alone  that  they 
came.  The  Lord  sent  his  angels  to  the  relief  of  the 
apostles  ;  to  Peter  and  John,  to  effect  their  release 
from  prison  ;  to  Philip,  the  deacon,  to  guide  him  to 
the  Ethiopian  eunuch  of  Candace,  the  queen ;  to 
Peter  a  second  time,  to  deliver  him  from  prison  and 
chains  ;  to  Paul,  to  cheer  him  and  through  him  his 
companions  when  threatened  with  shipwreck. 

Now  why  are  these  things  related  here  ?  Why 
are  any  truths  recorded  on  the  pages  of  the  sacred 
chronicles  ?  Why,  but  to  pass  down  to  us  and  to 
the  ages  yet  unborn,  the  truth  of  God  in  relation  to 
matters  whereof  we  should  otherwise  be  ignorant. 
And  how,  with  such  an  array  of  facts  before  us,  can 
we — we,  I  mean,  who  believe  in  the  inspiration  of 
holy  Writ — how  can  we  doubt  the  truth  of  the  inti- 
mate connection — daily  and  hourly,  yea,  momenta- 
rily— which  exists  between  angels  and  men  ? 

It  is  of  small  moment  to  us  that  angels  interposed 
on  behalf  of  Abraham  or  Jacob,  Peter  or  Paul,  if 
they  care  nothing  for  us.  It  does  not  interest  us  to 
be  told  that  the  providences  of  God  are  partial  and 


84     CONNECTION  OF  EARTH   WITH  HEAVEN. 

for  favorites  only.  Nay,  the  interest  of  the  chronicle 
centres  in  this  :  that  these  recorded  facts  are  set 
down  as  examples  of  a  universal  truth,  and  as  proofs 
of  a  universal  law.  That  is  one  evident  reason  why 
the  angels  were  with  these  men  as  open  and  visible 
manifestations  ;  why  they  were  permitted  to  come 
forth  from  behind  the  veil  in  these  special  instances, 
and  make  their  ministrations  manifest.  Actual  facts 
strike  the  mind  with  more  force  than  mere  asserted 
truths  ;  and,  as  recorded  events,  they  become  les- 
sons that  burn  themselves  into  the  mind  in  indelible 
lines. 

The  word  angel  means,  in  the  original,  a  messenger. 
It  is  sometimes  applied  even  to  the  spirits  of  evil 
— as  in  the  expression,  "  The  devil  and  his  angels." 
But  in  its  hotter  and  usual  sense,  it  means  a  messen- 
ger of  God  to  man.  And  this  is  why  the  spirits  of 
the  just  made  perfect  were  called  angels,  because  so 
large  and  important  a  part  of  their  work  was  as 
messengers  to  men,  and  as  ministers  of  God's  provi- 
dences in  man's  behalf. 

That  these  recorded  instances  were  exemplifica- 
tions of  a  universal  truth,  the  Scripture  has  not  left 
us  to  doubt.  The  Psalms  of  David  give,  in  the  lan- 
guage of  inspired  prophecy,  all  those  truths  which 
the  narrative  portions  of  the  written  Word  teach  by 
incidents  and  events.  The  Psalms  sing,  in  the  sum- 
marized language  of  Divine  law,  the  pith  and  mean- 
ing of  the  sacred  histories.  They  take  up,  therefore, 
the  visits  of  the  angels  to  the  patriarchs  and  proph- 
ets, and  universalize  that  idea  which  might  other- 
wise seem  partial,  in  the  beautiful  words,  uThe 


ANGELS  NEAR  LITTLE   CHILDREN.  85 

angel  of  the  Lord  encampeth  round  about  them  that 
fear  Him  and  delivereth  them  ;  "  *  or  in  those  other 
words  of  hope  and  love,  "He  shall  give  his  angels 
charge  over  thee  to  keep  thee  in  all  thy  ways  !  "  f 
There  is  now  no  more  appearance  of  partiality.  A 
thousand  recorded  events  are  summed  into  one  unic 
versal  truth  ;  and  a  seeming  special  favor  to  special 
favorites  of  God,  becomes  a  fact  which  has  an  inter- 
est and  an  application  for  all  mankind  in  all  ages, 
and  for  each  and  all.  This,  too,  we  know  by  the  joy 
which  exists  in  heaven  over  one  repentant  sinner,  t 
How  near  and  watchful  must  they  be,  when  not  a 
man,  or  woman,  or  a  child,  can  repent  of  a  single 
sin,  but  the  angels  of  God  know  of  it,  and  rejoice 
in  the  fact.  This,  too,  we  know,  by  the  assurance 
of  our  Lord,  that  little  children,  by  reason  of  their 
innocence,  are  under  the  protection  and  in  close 
communion  with  the  angelic  host.  For  He  says : 
"Their  angels  do  always  behold  the  face  of  my 
Father  which  is  in  heaven  ;  " — another  way  of  ex- 
pressing the  idea  of  their  peculiar  nearness  to  God.? 
And  then  Paul,  who  had  personal  experiences  in  the 
heavenly  realms,  declares  concerning  the  angels  that 
'  they  are  "  all  ministering  spirits  sent  forth  to  minis- 
ter for  them  who  shall  be  heirs  of  salvation."  || 

If  I  have  been  over-careful  to  press  home  the  full 
force  of  the  Scripture  testimony  on  this  important 
theme,  it  is  because  in  this  skeptical  age,  when  it  is 
considered  clever  even  among  Christians  to  doubt 

#  Ps,  xxxiv.  7.  f  Ps.  xci.  11.  J  Luke  xv.  7. 

g  Matt,  xviii.  10.  ||  Heb.  i.  14. 

8 


86      CONNECTION  OF  EARTH   WITH  HEAVEN. 

the  supernatural,  we  do  not  realize  as  we  ought  the 
doctrine  of  the  nearness  of  heaven  and  of  the  af- 
fectionate relation  of  the  angels  to  us.  Men  are  too 
apt  to  regard  heaven  as  a  far-off  region — angels  as 
beings  originally  created  such,  and  of  a  different 
mould  from  men.  But  the  angels  are  always  around 
us,  endeavoring  to  get  access  to  our  hearts.  There- 
fore heaven  is  around  us,  resting  on  the  earth  as  its 
foundation.  Angels  are  seeking  to  guard  us  in  all 
our  ways, — their  power  to  guard  being  in  propor- 
tion as  our  thoughts  are  pure,  our  ends  good,  and 
our  affections  heavenly.  They  do  not  save  us  from 
all  evil  ?  No  ;  we  are  free  men.  We  can  turn  to 
evil  as  well  as  good.  We  can  draw  the  devils  around 
and  near  us  if  we  will.  The  angels  encamp,  so  runs 
the  law,  round  about  those  who  fear  the  Lord.  When 
we  look  to  Him,  the  angels  close  in  around  us  ;  when 
we  look  to  self,  they  retreat  from  contact  with  the 
infernal  hosts  which  we  then  invite  to  our  sides. 
When  we  try  to  do  and  be  good,  they  help  us  ;  when 
we  do  evil  and  seek  only  to  gratify  our  selfish  loves, 
they  have  no  power  to  help,  because  we  have  brought 
ourselves  into  communion  with  the  spirits  of  evil. 

This  is  another  doctrine  of  Scripture  :  We  stand 
unconsciously  between  two  worlds.  The  spirits  of 
each  have  access  to  our  souls.  It  is  ours,  in  the 
exercise  of  the  freedom  with  which  God  has  endowed 
us,  to  choose  our  invisible  associates  ;  to  secure  the 
protection  of  angels,  or  to  invite  the  malign  influence 
of  their  opposites.  Equally  recognized  by  Scripture 
is  the  doctrine  of  the  interference  of  evil  spirits  with 
the  affairs  of  men ;  not  so  much,  however,  didacti- 


INFLUENCE   OF  EVIL   SPIRITS.  87 

cally  taught  as  unquestionably  assumed.  Not  to 
dwell  upon  it,  but  to  cite  only  a  few  allusions  to  the 
fact:  — 

Remember  that  Saul  did  his  wicked  acts  under 
the  influence  of  an  evil  spirit  whom  David  could 
cause  to  depart  from  him  by  the  music  of  his  harp  ; 
that  it  was  Satan  who  entered  into  the  heart  of 
Judas  when  he  betrayed  the  Saviour  ;  that  our  Lord 
cured  many  of  the  evil  spirits  who  had  entered  into 
them,  as  well  as  cast  out  the  devils,  which  in  that 
day  could  possess  even  the  bodies  of  men  as  well 
as  their  souls  ;  that  He  calls  evil  men  the  children  of 
the  devil ;  that  James  admonishes  Christians  to  re- 
sist the  devil,  assuring  us  that  if  we  do,  he  will  flee 
from  us ;  that  all  the  apostles  recognized  the  in- 
fluence of  devils  upon  the  heart.  In  fact,  the  doc- 
trine of  the  influence  of  evil  spirits  is  as  clearly 
recognized  as  that  of  the  ministry  of  angels,  though 
not  perhaps  so  often  referred  to. 

Is  it  a  matter  of  no  importance,  then,  that  we 
should  fully  realize  the  position  in  which  we  stand? 
Is  it  of  no  consequence  that  we  should  be  made 
aware  of  our  relation  to  the  invisible  realm  which 
surrounds  us  and  interpenetrates  our  moral  being  ? 
Shall  we  gain  no  strength  by  understanding  the  laws 
of  our  daily  life,  the  snares  into  which  we  fall,  the 
subtle  insinuations  by  which  we  are  seduced,  and 
our  momentary  need,  therefore,  of  an  almighty  and 
ever-present  Saviour  ?  Pitfalls  are  dug  for  us  at 
every  turn ;  snares  are  laid  in  every  path  ;  nets  are 
spread  whithersoever  we  go,  They  come  from  evil 
but  invisible  spirits  ;  from  this  world's  wicked  men 


88      CONNECTION   OF  EARTH    WITH  HEAVEN. 

who,  departing  this  life  and  becoming  devils,  seek 
to  drag  us  down  to  their  own  level.  Influences  are 
brought  to  bear  on  us  of  whose  subtlety  and  power 
we  are  not  aware  ;  insinuations  are  introduced  into 
our  minds  of  the  sources  of  which  we  are  in  total 
ignorance  ;  seductions  are  spread  temptingly  before 
the  mind,  and  like  Jesus  in  the  wilderness  we  are 
offered  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world,  that  is,  its 
pleasures,  its  riches,  its  joys,  its  places,  its  power 
and  preferment,  if  we  will  only  fall  down  and  wor- 
ship what  is  evil.  No  matter  how  much  you  over- 
reach your  neighbor  ;  no  matter  how  ill-gotten  your 
wealth,  get  money  !  No  matter  to  what  depths  of 
meanness  you  may  stoop,  get  power  and  place  !  No 
matter  how  far  you  dull  your  moral  sense,  or  debauch 
your  soul,  get  pleasure  !  Everywhere,  and  at  every 
turn,  these  evil  spirits  sing  to  the  heart  that  siren 
song  which  was  sung  in  the  wilderness,  "  All  these 
things  shall  you  have,  if  you  will  but  fall  down  and 
worship  us ;  for,  only  worship  evil  and  you  wor- 
ship us."  And  the  poor  deluded  soul  goes  down 
on  his  knees  to  the  invisible  devil ;  he  does  his  be- 
hests ;  and  he  has  his  reward.  Then  from  his  pres- 
ence fly  the  pure  messengers  of  God,  the  spirits  of 
just  men  made  perfect,  who  cannot  come  near  be- 
cause he  is  surrounded  by  atmospheres  which  they 
cannot  breathe. 

It  is  when  the  temptation  is  resisted  that  the 
angels  come,  as  they  came  to  Jesus,  and  minister 
to  the  oppressed  and  wounded  heart.  It  is  on  the 
man's  earnest  appeal  to  the  Lord  that  the  spirits 
of  evil  desert  their  posts  and  fly.  James  spake 
truly  when  he  said,  "Resist  the  devil  and  he  will 


INFERNAL   AND  ANGELIC  INFLUENCE.      89 

flee  from  you."  You  can  only  resist  him  effectually 
by  looking  to  the  Lord  for  strength,  and  resisting 
the  evil  thought.  You  can  only  resist  him — when 
the  wicked  desire  springs  up  within  the  heart,  and 
the  ignoble  deed  is  on  the  point  of  being  done,  and 
the  kingdom  of  this  world  is  about  to  be  reached 
for  and  grasped— by  straightening  up  the  soul,  and 
(in  humble  acknowledgment  of  the  Lord  as  the  sole 
and  almighty  Deliverer)  letting  the  heart  exclaim, 
whether  the  mouth  does  so  or  not,  "  Get  thee  be- 
hind me,  Satan  I  " 

Or  if  the  thought  has  given  way  to  the  tempter's 
wiles,  or  the  heart  succumbed  to  the  mean  desire, 
or  if  the  act  is  done  at  the  instigation  of  the  evil 
one,  it  is  when  sorrow  comes,  and  the  soul  is  smit- 
ten with  remorse,  and  conscience  is  aroused,  that 
there  is  joy  among  the  angels  of  heaven  over  the 
repentant  sinner.  Then  they  gather  again ;  they 
come  with  their  soft  entrancing  ways  ;  they  wipe 
the  weeping  eyes  and  dry  the  mourner's  tears. 
Then  they  soften  and  subdue  the  heart ;  they  enno- 
ble the  desire  and  purify  the  thought ;  they  lift  the 
aspirations  to  the  Lord,  and  the  whole  inner  man 
becomes  filled  with  earnest  though  silent  prayer  for 
aid ;  then,  panoplied  with  the  Lord's  power,  they 
bear  us  up,  as  it  were,  in  the  arms  of  their  strength, 
and  pour  into  us  that  spirit,  courage  and  resolution 
which,  coming  from  Him  who  hath  "all  power," 
can  fight  this  battle  with  the  evil  one  on  the  inner 
field  of  the  heart. 

And  the  connection  of  earth  with  heaven  cannot 
be  fitful  and  spasmodic  ;  at  least,  no  more  so  than 


90     CONNECTION  OF  EARTH  WITH  HEAVEN. 

the  vacillating  heart  of  man  may  make  it.  The 
influences  of  heaven  must  press  for  acceptance  at 
all  times  ;  dependent,  not  on  the  will  of  the  angels 
veering  or  changing,  but  entirely  on  the  will  of 
man.  When  the  heart  is  serene  and  peaceful ; 
when  the  lusts  and  passions  are  lulled  to  rest ; 
when  the  true  affections  burn  with  steady  flame, 
and  the  thoughts  rest  in  contemplation  of  the  good 
and  true,  of  heaven  and  of  God  ;  when  there  is  a 
holy  desire  to  do  right  in  all  the  relations  of  life,  and 
to  live  in  strict  conformity  with  the  Lord's  law  ;  at 
such  times  we  may  know  that  we  are  resting  in 
angelic  arms,  and  that  our  inspirations  are  drawn 
from  holy  sources.  You  have  felt,  perhaps,  that 
rest  and  peace.  All  have  their  angel-encompassed 
hours.  Or  you  have  felt  the  demon  of  passion  rend 
your  soul,  and  the  lust  of  depravity  rise  in  its 
strength  and  sweep  you  along  in  its  fiery  torrent 
like  a  feather  in  the  wind  ;  and  you  were  forced 
along  in  utter  detestation  of  yourself,  and  with  no 
seeming  strength  to  resist.  That  was  not  yourself; 
it  was  the  demoniac  influence  of  the  invisible  world. 
You  opened  a  little  loop-hole  of  ungodly  thought  or 
purpose,  and  the  whole  force  of  hell  poured  in  at  its 
invitation,  and  swept  you  away  in  its  overmastering 
current.  Then,  in  devout  acknowledgment  of  the 
ever-present  and  almighty  Saviour,  swing  yourself, 
thought  and  heart,  to  the  heavenly  side  ;  and  (with- 
out disparaging  or  neglecting  oral  prayer)  your  every 
desire  and  purpose  and  effort  becomes  a  prayer  to  the 
Lord  for  needed  strength.  Your  heart  is  straight- 
way opened  to  the  Divine  protecting  sphere.  And 
in  your  deep  distress,  cannot  the  Heavenly  Father 


A   PRE  CIO  US   THO  UGHT.  91 

send  you,  should  you  need  them,  "more  than  twelve 
legions  of  angels  "  ? 

It  is  a  beautiful  doctrine  ;  and  true  as  it  is  beau- 
tiful. And  one  of  its  greatest  charms  is  in  the 
thought  and  hope,  yea,  the  certainty,  that  as  the 
angels  were  once  earth-born  like  ourselves,  those 
who  have  loved  us  best  and  gone  before — parents, 
children,  friends — these  most  likely  would  be  the 
very  ones  who  would  lead  us  lovingly,  cherish  us 
dearly,  and  cling  to  us  fondly  amid  the  troubles 
and  trials  of  our  earthly  life. 

The  songs  of  our  Sunday-schools  are  justified, 
though  the  worldliness  of  more  mature  age  may 
smother  their  delightful  suggestions  ;  and  the  angels 
beckon  us  on  every  hand.  They  chant  by  our  cra- 
dles their  sweet  inspiring  songs ;  they  press  to  our 
sides  in  all  the  vicissitudes  of  life  ;  they  seek  us  still 
when  we  reject  them ;  come  at  our  call  no  matter 
how  often  sent  away ;  lead  us  always,  if  we  will 
permit  them,  to  heaven  and  the  Lord ;  illumine  for 
us  the  pages  of  the  written  Word  ;  protect  and  aid 
us  in  many  an  emergency  when  our  mental  state 
has  placed  us  within  the  range  of  their  protection ; 
receive  our  last  expiring  breath  ;  and  introduce  us, 
if  we  will  allow  them  and  our  state  of  affection  will 
permit,  among  the  shining  ones  in  the  world  beyond. 

The  truths  touching  the  connection  of  earth  with 
heaven  are  beautiful,  indeed,  and  fraught  with 
power  to  impart  a  holy  joy.  It  is  ours  to  receive 
or  reject  them  as  we  may  choose ;  to  use  them  or 
abuse  them.  Let  us  act  wisely  and  endeavor  to 
profit  by  a  gift  so  precious. 

I  have  in  previous  lectures  traced  the  angel  from 


92      CONNECTION   OF  EARTH    WITH  HEAVEN. 

his  formation  on  earth  to  his  home  in  heaven  ;  and 
back  again  as  God's  messenger  to  man.  I  return  to 
the  first  thought.  Hearts  make  heavens.  Earth  is 
the  nursery  whence  they  spring.  This  is  a  charm- 
ing world ;  it  is  filled  with  the  Lord's  good  gifts, 
with  not  a  taint  of  evil  naturally  clinging  to  any 
one  of  them.  Its  grass  is  green ;  its  flowers  are 
fair ;  its  fruits  are  luscious  ;  its  sun-lit  trees  are 
canopies  of  joyous  life.  It  was  built  to  be  the  nurs- 
ery of  heaven  ;  it  was  made  to  mould  young  hearts 
into  angels  of  light.  How  have  we  changed  all 
this,  and  made  it  the  nursery  of  hosts  of  fiends  ! 

Yet  the  influence  of  heavenly  hopes  and  hearts 
surrounds  it  still.  The  Lord  is  increasing  these 
continually  day  by  day.  He  is  ever  adding  thou- 
sands of  angels  to  his  fold.  The  world  is  still  beau- 
tiful, and  man  may  restore  the  ruin  he  has  wrought. 
It  is  not  abandoned  pleasure,  mad  ambition,  greed 
of  gold,  or  silly  vanity,  that  shall  restore  its  pristine 
innocence.  No  :  it  is  contentment,  purity  of  heart, 
righteousness  of  life.  It  is  love  of  the  neighbor, 
love  of  right,  love  of  use,  that  finds  its  chief  joy  in 
serving  rather  than  in  being  served ;  a  love  that 
emulates  the  Saviour's  own  self-sacrificing  life  when 
on  earth.  Laboring  and  striving  for  these,  we  do 
our  part  to  restore  this  earth  to  its  sublime  destiny 
of  rearing  souls  for  heaven.  Gaining  these,  earth's 
homes  will  be  lit  with  love  once  more,  its  beauties 
be  but  the  reflection  of  each  heart's  best  joy  ;  and 
so  near  to  heaven  is  it,  that  this  mortal  body  is  but 
the  veil  which,  drawn  aside  at  death,  leaves  us  in 
open  and  blissful  fellowship  with  the  angels. 


yi. 

CHILDREN  IN  HEAVEN. 

jjHE  Scripture  furnishes  but  little  direct  testi- 
mony  concerning  the  lot  of  those  who  are 
removed  from  this  world  in  childhood,  and 
their  condition  in  the  other  life.  The  question  is 
whether,  in  the  light  of  the  general  truths  concern- 
ing the  other  world  which  are  there  taught,  in  the 
true  spirit  of  all  its  supernatural  teachings,  in  the 
unquestionable  meaning,  intent  and  drift  of  its  pos- 
itive utterances,  we  do  not  find  enough  to  justify  us 
in  laying  down  some  very  certain  principles,  full  of 
hope  and  comfort,  concerning  those  of  our  little  ones 
who  have  passed  on  to  the  other  side. 

Should  you  ask  me  why  the  Scriptures  are  so  silent 
on  a  subject  of  such  deep  interest,  while  they  are 
replete  with  the  terms  and  conditions  of  the  salva- 
tion of  adults,  and  with  warnings  lest  by  their  con- 
duct they  bring  themselves  under  condemnation 
and  lose  heaven,  I  should  answer,  that  the  fate  of 
our  children  is  taken  for  granted.  The  Bible  raises 
no  question  on  this  point,  because  there  is  no  ques- 
tion. If  it  warns  you  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come, 
it  is  because  you  are  in  danger.  If  it  warns  not  the 
children,  it  is  because  they  are  not  in  danger.  If 
it  lays  before  you  the  blessing  and  the  curse,  the 
blessing  if  you  keep  the  commandments  of  the  Lord, 
and  the  curse  if  you  keep  them  not,  it  is  because 

93 


94  CHILDREN  IN  HEAVEN. 

you  have  the  mental  development,  the  experience 
and  the  rationality  which  enable  you  to  comprehend 
the  difference  between  right  and  wrong.  You  are 
responsible  because  you  are  rational  beings.  You 
are  responsible  precisely  in  the  degree  that  you  are 
rational.  The  common  sense  of  mankind  makes 
this  distinction.  It  is  recognized  in  our  laws,  in 
our  customs,  in  the  government  of  our  families. 

The  law  does  not  punish  idiots  or  insane  persons 
for  their  crimes,  because  they  are  not  morally  re- 
sponsible. Their  minds  are  not  swayed  by  reason  ; 
and  crime  to  be  crime  must  be  committed  by  one 
who  is  morally  capable  of  distinguishing  between 
right  and  wrong.  The  law  would  not  punish  a  babe 
for  surreptitiously  carrying  off  a  piece  of  money, 
even  if  it  took  it  from  your  pocket,  because  the 
very  gist  of  crime  is  wanting,  the  knowledge  that  it 
is  a  wrong — that  it  is  contrary  to  law — that  it  is 
sin.  Custom  overlooks  in  children  the  violation  of 
those  courtesies  in  mariner  and  conversation,  which 
would  be  considered  intolerable  in  adults.  In  our 
families  we  pardon  many  things  in  a  little  child 
which  would  be  unendurable  in  one  of  maturer  age ; 
acts  and  words  which  we  consider  pleasant  and  cun- 
ning in  a  child  of  six,  become  impertinent  or  vulgar 
or  criminal  in  one  of  sixteen.  The  responsibility 
of  man,  both  mental  and  moral,  is  measured  by  his 
reason.  True,  the  law,  from  the  impossibility  of 
knowing  the  heart  of  man,  cannot  always  make 
nice  discriminations  ;  but  the  Divine  Father  who 
knows  all  hearts,  makes  discriminations  with  the 
strictest  accuracy. 


MORAL   RESPONSIBILITY.  95 

This  was  our  Lord's  meaning  when  He  declared 
that  the  servant  who  knew  his  Lord's  will  and  did 
it  not,  should  be  beaten  with  many  stripes  ;  but  he 
that  knew  it  not,  yet  did  commit  things  worthy  of 
stripes,  should  be  beaten  with  few.  The  punish- 
ments that  inhere  in  moral  wrong,  are  in  proportion 
to  its  intelligent  and  wilful  commission.  If  you  know 
what  you  are  doing,  and  are  rationally  aware  of  its 
evil  nature,  you  are  sinning,  and  incurring  condem- 
nation. 

Some  unpleasant  consequences,  however,  follow 
all  errors  and  omissions,  even  though  not  deliberate 
or  wilful ;  but  these  are  comparatively  trivial.  From 
an  eternal  point  of  view,  the  wilful  commission  of 
acts  which  our  reason  proclaims  to  be  wrong,  fixes 
the  evil  habit  and  character  of  the  soul,  confirms  it 
in  the  love  of  sinning  ;  and  this  condemns,  because 
if  persisted  in  it  becomes  filially  ineradicable.  But 
the  commission  of  acts  which  we  do  not  know  to  be 
sins,  although  in  themselves  wrong,  do  not  confirm 
the  soul  in  the  love  of  sinning  ;  and  a  habit  of  that 
kind  is  easily  conquered  when  the  reason  sees  it  to 
be  sinful,  and  the  heart  is  desirous  to  sin  no  more. 
And  this  is  just  what  our  Lord  meant  when  He  said 
to  the  Jews  :  "If  ye  were  blind  (morally,  of  course), 
ye  would  have  no  sin ;  but  now  ye  say,  We  see  ; 
therefore  your  sin  remaineth." 

"We  apply  this  law  directly  to  the  case  of  children. 
We  find  how  Revelation  teaches  us  that  those  who 
obey  the  Divine  law,  are  in  a  state  of  happiness 
hereafter,  because  the  very  elements  of  happiness 
are  within  their  breasts.  We  find  that  those  who 


96  CHILDREN  IN  HEAVEN. 

disobey  have,  in  the  conscious  and  wilful  inversion 
of  what  is  truly  human,  lost  the  elements  of  happi- 
ness. The  one  has  admitted  the  Divine  life  within, 
and  has  become  good  and  God-like  in  quality.  The 
other  has  rejected  or  perverted  that  life,  and  become 
bad,  selfish  and  ungodly.  One  class  is  termed  the 
saved  ;  the  other  class  the  lost.  To  which  class  do 
our  departed  children  belong  ?  To  which  are  they 
consigned  by  the  true  spirit  of  Scripture  ?  To  be 
lost,  it  is  necessary  to  sin  knowingly  and  wilfully, 
to  love  evil  for  its  own  sake,  to  have  confirmed  the 
soul  in  a  sinful  habit.  And  since  the  child  has  not 
done  this,  how  can  it  be  lost  ?  It  is  impossible,  so 
long  as  the  Word  and  the  character  of  God  remain 
what  they  are. 

At  what  age,  however,  would  this  irresponsibility 
cease  and  responsibility  commence  ?  It  were  dif- 
ficult to  say.  That  will  differ  with  different  persons. 
Some  minds  mature  earlier  than  others.  Some  are 
more  responsible  at  sixteen  than  others  at  twenty- 
six.  The  law  fixes  the  age  of  legal  responsibility  at 
eighteen  for  females,  and  twenty-one  for  males. 
The  law  considers  that  at  those  ages  the  respective 
sexes  have  arrived  at  years  of  sufficient  rationality 
to  assume  the  control  of  themselves.  In  cases  of 
crime,  large  discretion  is  vested  in  the  courts  to  de- 
termine whether  the  individual  is  a  child  or  an  adult, 
with  reference  to  moral  responsibility.  In  the  ques- 
tion of  salvation,  however,  the  Lord  is  the  only  king 
and  court.  He  alone  can  decide. 

Now  we  believe  that  common  sense  is  always  on 
the  side  of  the  higher  truth.  The  Lord  is  love, 


THE   QUESTION  KETTLES  ITSELF.  97 

mercy,  benignity  and  justice.  These  attributes  are 
his  in  an  infinite  degree.  If  it  would  be  a  crinle  in 
an  earthly  father  to  chastise  his  child  for  that  which, 
done  by  him  in  playfulness  and  innocence,  would  be 
sin  in  an  adult,  so  is  it  impossible  that  the  heavenly 
Father  could  commit  so  flagrant  a  violation  of  jus- 
tice and  of  love.  If  the  state,  in  its  promulgation 
of  law,  is  wise  and  merciful  with  its  children  in  re- 
gard to  this  matter,  how  much  more  wise  and  merci- 
ful is  infinite  Wisdom  ? 

That  our  children  are  punished  in  another  life  be- 
cause they  have  not  come  to  years  of  rationality  in 
this,  is  incredible  ;  that  they  are  lost  when  evil  has 
not  become  the  habit  of  the  soul,  no  right-thinking 
person  can  believe.  The  question  settles  itself. 

Two  of  the  tenderest  scenes  in  the  life  of  our 
Saviour  are  in  connection  with  little  children.  One 
was,  when  the  disciples  had  a  dispute  as  to  who 
should  be  greatest  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  They 
referred  the  matter  to  Jesus  for  decision.  Accord- 
ing to  his  frequent  custom,  He  gave  them  no  direct 
answer ;  but  He  called  a  little  child  to  Him,  and  set 
him  in  the  midst  of  them.  Then  said  He,  "  Except 
ye  be  converted  and  become  as  little  children,  ye 
shall  not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Who- 
soever, therefore,  shall  humble  himself  as  this 
little  child,  the  same  is  greatest  in  the  kingdom  of 
heaven."*  The  characteristics  of  children,  with 
all  their  faults,  are  innocence  and  humility.  And 
these  are  the  chief  characteristics  of  heaven.  They 

*  Matt,  xviii.  3,  4. 
9  G 


98  CHILDREN  IN  HEAVEN. 

who  possess  these  virtues,  all  who  possess  them, 
are  saved — be  they  children  or  adults.  Possessing 
these,  you  cannot  have  faults  of  character  so  con- 
demnatory as  to  lose  your  hold  on  heaven.  There- 
fore all  children  are  saved  because  all  have  these. 
Such  is  the  lesson. 

The  second  scene  was,  when  loving  parents  brought 
these  cherished  objects  of  their  hearts  to  Jesus 
that  He  might  touch  them.  Unquestionably  they 
believed  that  great  virtue  would  pass  to  these  little 
ones,  if  He  would  but  lay  his  hands  on  them  and 
pray  for  them.  But  the  disciples  were  indignant. 
They  deemed  it  beneath  the  dignity  of  the  great 
Master  to  do  what  these  parents  desired.  Another 
lesson  was  in  store  for  the  disciples  concerning  the 
true  nature  of  spiritual  things.  "  Suffer  the  little 
children,"  said  Jesus,  u  to  come  unto  me,  and  forbid 
them  not ;  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven."* 
Again  He  teaches  that  innocence  and  humility  con- 
stitute heaven.  Again  the  only  conclusion  from  his 
words  must  be,  that  little  children  by  reason  of  this, 
whatever  their  unconfirmed  errors  might  be,  were 
always  heirs  of  heaven.  "  Of  such  is  the  kingdom 
of  heaven ! "  Again,  though  in  another  form  of 
words,  He  utters  that  truth  of  touching  import, 
u  Whosoever  shall  not  receive  the  kingdom  of  God 
as  a  little  child," — that  is  with  child-like  innocence 
and  humility — u  he  shall  not  enter  therein." 

But  He  did  more  than  this.  He  took  them  up  in 
his  arms  and  blessed  them.  There  was  a  deep 

*  Matt.  xix.  14. 


JESUS  BLESSED    THEM.  99 

spiritual  significance  in  this.  Whom  the  gracious 
Saviour  takes  in  his  arms  and  presses  to  his  bosom, 
those  are  the  ones  He  most  tenderly  loves.  I  say 
most  tenderly,  to  indicate  their  peculiar  nearness  to 
Him.  The  more  humble  and  innocent  we  are,  the 
nearer  we  are  to  his  bosom  and  the  closer  the  union 
between  Him  and  us.  But  He  blessed  them.  And 
what  is  blessing  ?  It  is  a  term  indicating  the  highest 
happiness  and  purest  joy  that  can  be  conferred. 
The  Divine  blessing  to  man  is  the  largest  measure 
of  spiritual  happiness  and  joy  that  man  can  receive. 
And  the  act  of  the  Lord's  blessing  the  little  children 
was  a  declaration  that  they  in  their  humility  and 
innocence,  of  all  the  vast  multitude  to  be  found  in 
heaven,  were  the  largest  inheritors  of  the  blessings 
born  of  Him. 

But  on  the  first  occasion,  after  wandering  from 
the  subject,  He  returned  to  it  in  a  peculiar  and 
striking  manner.  "Take  heed,"  said  He,  "that 
ye  despise  not  one  of  these  little  ones  ;  for  I  say 
unto  you,  that  in  heaven  their  angels  do  always 
behold  the  face  of  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven." 
The  allusion  is  evidently  here  to  the  doctrine  of 
guardian  angels,  so  clearly  taught  in  other  parts  of 
Scripture.  We  all — those  of  us,  at  least,  who  are 
becoming  regenerate — have  ministering  spirits,  an- 
gels of  the  Lord,  encamped  about  us  to  keep  us  in 
all  our  ways.  •  But  the  angels  of  the  little  ones— so 
runs  the  text — "  do  always  behold  the  face  "  of  their 
Father  which  is  in  heaven.*  Those  who  see  God, 

*  Matt,  xviii.  10. 


100  CHILDREN  IN  HEAVEN. 

who  are  said  in  Scripture  language  to  behold  his  face, 
are  the  purest  in  heart.  This  is  an  expression  indi- 
cating rare  purity  and  an  exceptionally  close  union 
with  the  Lord.  The  text  teaches  that  the  guardian 
spirits  of  children  are  the  highest  and  best  of  the 
angels.  They  are  in  the  sweetest  angelic  compan- 
ionships, because  they  are  the  purest  of  earthly 
beings.  Is  there,  then,  a  possibility  of  their  con- 
demnation ?  How  could  such  a  thought  be  enter- 
tained by  a  righteous  God  ?  Then  there  is  the  par- 
able of  the  lost  sheep  and  its  summary  conclusion : 
uEven  so,  it  is  not  the  will  of  your  Father  which 
is  in  heaven  that  one  of  these  little  ones  should 
perish  ! "  * 

And  if  while  on  earth  they  are  under  the  guar- 
dianship of  the  purest  in  the  celestial  realms,  death 
severs  not  the  connection.  If,  as  the  child-soul 
drops  its  form  of  clay,  it  passes  into  the  other 
sphere  clasped  in  the  angels'  loving  arms,  we  may 
be  sure  it  is  not  abandoned  by  them  on  the  other 
side.  As  the  angels  are  its  ministering  spirits  here, 
so  must  they  be  hereafter  ;  and  we  behold  our  little 
ones,  as  they  pass  the  portals  of  death,  press  on  into 
the  deeper  love  and  tenderer  care  of  angels,  who 
will  there  educate  them  in  a  manner  far  surpassing 
that  of  the  best  and  wisest  of  earthly  mothers. 
Why  not  ?  Is  there  any  other  reasonable  conclu- 
sion ?  We  pass  from  what  our  Lord  teaches  to  what 
inevitably  follows  from  his  teachings  ;  from  what 
we  know,  to  what  we  cannot  help  believing  as  its 

*  Matt,  xviii.  14. 


INSTRUCTED  BY  ANGELS.  101 

legitimate  results;  and  we*  leave"  our  dhi'ldreti  sev- 
ered from  us  by  death,  with  the  Lord's  blessing 
resting  upon  their  heads,  and  in  the  care  of  the 
wisest  and  most  loving  of  all  the  angels  in  the 
heavenly  realms. 

We  may  follow  in  imagination  these  little  ones, 
now  taken  under  the  open  protection  of  their  hith- 
erto invisible  guardians.  We  may  see  them  at  their 
childish  sports  ;  we  may  hear  their  rippling  laugh- 
ter ;  we  may  behold  their  eyes  beaming  with  joy  and 
full  of  frolicsome  mirth, — each  angel-mother  also 
laughing  and  sporting  with  them  in  like  playful 
mood.  She  is  as  innocent  as  they,  with  the  wisdom 
of  maturity  added  to  the  simplicity  of  childhood. 
The  ebullitions  of  hereditary  evil,  the  bad  temper, 
the  tendencies  to  lie  or  steal  or  covet,  are  checked 
in  their  very  beginnings,  nipped  in  the  bud  ;  and  so 
they  have  no  chance  to  grow.  What  an  advantage 
have  these  heavenly  parents  over  those  of  earth ! 
These  angel-mothers  read  thoughts  and  hearts.  All 
in  the  higher  realms  do  that.  Spirit  is  made  up  of 
will  and  understanding,  of  love  and  thought ;  and 
when  we  see  soul  or  spirit,  we  see  those  embodied 
in  spiritual  forms.  How  much  more  easily,  then,  in 
the  other  sphere,  to  get  at  the  disposition  of  the 
child  !  How  much  less  difficult  to  check  each  dawn- 
ing act  of  waywardness,  each  budding  manifestation 
of  self-will,  when  the  peculiar  character  of  the  little 
one  is  beforehand  known  !  How  much  easier  to  in- 
struct, when  the  mental  capacity  and  moral  founda- 
tion are  intuitively  discerned. 

Then  remember  that  these  teachers  are  assigned 
9* 


102  CHILDREN  IN  HEAVEN. 

by  ho  rrile  of  outward  circumstance,  or  on  the  earthly 
necessity  of  doing  the  best  we  can ;  but  from  the 
wide  realms  of  the  Lord's  entire  heaven  the  fittest, 
wisest,  best  are  selected  for  the  work  by  unerring 
Divine  Wisdom.  Their  education  goes  on ;  their 
minds  develop  ;  they  grow  into  heaven,  for  heaven 
grows  into  them  ;  they  are  surrounded  by  its  influ- 
ences ;  they  become  living  representatives  of  its 
highest  virtues.  They,  in  their  turn,  become  angels 
of  such  purity,  that  they  always  behold  the  face  of 
their  Father  which  is  in  heaven. 

It  seems  hard  to  lose  our  children.  If  we  love 
them  with  a  merely  natural  or  animal  passion,  it  is 
hard.  If  we  cherish  them  with  a  merely  selfish 
love,  and  desire  them  only  to  foster  our  pride  and 
vanity  by  the  praises  they  receive  and  the  admira- 
tion they  win  and  the  triumphs  they  achieve,  it  is 
hard.  But  in  the  degree  that  our  affection  is  unself- 
ish and  true ;  in  the  degree  that  it  regards  their 
spiritual  good  rather  than  our  natural  comfort  or 
pride  ;  in  the  degree  that  it  partakes  of  that  Divine 
quality  which  is  willing  to  lay  down  even  life  for 
their  sakes ;  in  that  degree  we  are  resigned  and 
trustful,  and  the  hardship  of  their  removal  loses  its 
poignancy.  It  requires  considerable  progress  in  the 
regenerate  life  to  resign  our  children  unmurmuringly 
into  the  Lord's  hands,  and  yet  maintain  unbroken 
the  whole  force  of  our  parental  affection.  Yet  a 
firm  conviction  and  a  clear  view  of  their  lot  in  the 
other  life,  with  its  many  and  great  advantages  over 
the  lot  of  most  children  here,  should  dispel  our 
doubts,  comfort  our  hearts  and  dry  our  tears. 


THEY  GROW  TO  MATURITY.  103 

Do  children  develop  in  the  world  beyond  ?  Do 
they  grow  to  be  men  and  women  there  ?  Is  there 
any  living  organic  form  that  does  not  grow  till  it 
reaches  its  maturity  ?  Was  there  ever  a  sound 
mind  created  that  did  not  mature  ?  Are  our  chil- 
dren like  unripe  fruit  that  forever  remains  unripe  ? 
— like  those  feeble  minds,  which,  by  reason  of  some 
defect  in  the  material  organism,  never  in  this  life 
develop  into  rational  beings  ?  These  children  left 
their  material  bodies  here ;  their  spirits  continue 
still  to  live.  Of  course  they  develop  and  grow  in 
the  spirit  world  ;  and  this,  because  it  is  a  universal 
law  of  mind  ;  and  it  is  mind  that  goes  into  the  other 
world.  Human  nature  is  human  nature  still,  and 
ever  remains  so.  It  no  more  changes  because  its 
field  of  activity  is  removed  to  the  other  world,  than 
you  would  change  if  you  changed  your  residence  to 
England  or  Japan.  The  universal  law  of  life,  men- 
tal, moral  and  physical,  is  activity  or  decay — growth 
or  dissolution. 

Our  children,  therefore,  are  not  stunted  in  stature 
or  dwarfed  in  intellect  on  the  other  shore,  where 
they  have  more  and  better  advantages  than  they 
would  have  had  here.  Peculiar  educational  privi- 
leges do  not  belittle  the  intellect,  nor  do  celestial 
surroundings  prevent  the  growth  of  the  virtues. 
The  simple  statement  of  this  proposition  reveals  its 
truth.  And  who  believes  that  the  nearer  presence 
of  God,  and  the  closer  communion  of  angels,  tend 
to  produce  mental  conditions  approximating  those 
of  idiots  or  fools  ?  We  base  our  conclusions  on  the 
known  nature  of  the  human  mind  and  the  consistent 


104  CHILDREN  IN  HEAVEN. 

teachings  of  the  Word  of  God  ;  and  can  any  founda- 
tion be  more  secure  ? 

Kemember,  too,  that  the  Lord  likens  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  to  a  grain  of  mustard-seed  which,  though 
the  least  of  all  seeds,  becomes  a  great  tree  which 
spreads  its  branches  toward  heaven.  An  essential 
element  of  heaven  is  growth. 

We  need  not  hesitate,  then,  to  believe  in  the 
glorious  future  for  all  who  are  taken  from  this 
world  in  infancy  and  childhood.  There  is  a  provi- 
dence in  their  removal,  however  deep  and  inscruta- 
ble it  may  be  to  our  narrow  vision.  We  mourn  for 
our  departed  child  ;  and  I  would  not  forbid  one  tear 
of  affection  which  tends  to  soothe  the  aching  breast, 
or  one  sigh  which  marks  a  struggle  for  the  resigna- 
tion of  the  heart.  Tears  and  sighs,  like  other  things, 
are  good  or  bad  according  to  the  nature  of  the  founts 
from  whence  they  flow.  But  how  often  parents  part 
with  a  child  to  give  it  better  educational  advantages 
or  to  secure  it  a  purer  home  on  earth  ;  with  a  tear 
perhaps,  sometimes  with  a  sigh.  Now  if  you  can 
gain  for  that  child  the  benefits  of  angelic  education  ; 
if  you  can  win  for  it  the  closer  intimacy  of  heaven  ; 
if  you  can  have  the  certainty  of  its  entering  the  so- 
ciety of  the  purest  and  noblest  and  best,  and  of  be- 
coming itself  so  pure  and  noble  as  to  remain  in  such 
society  forever,  would  there  be  no  support  or  solace 
in  the  thought  ?  Then  how  do  you  know  what  your 
child  would  have  been  had  it  remained  on  earth  ? 
Can  you  read  the  futurity  of  hearts  ?  May  not  the 
tender  mercy  of  the  Lord  have  snatched  it  from  a 
fate  a  thousand-fold  worse  than  death,  and  appointed 


A   QUESTION  ANSWERED.  105 

it  a  destiny  a  thousand-fold^  better  than  the  most 
brilliant  career  on  earth  V  Let  us  not  question  the 
wisdom  of  God's  providence  in  the  removal  of  our 
little  ones  from  this  lower  sphere. 

Then  there  is  another  aspect  of  the  casa  Why, 
we  are  often  asked,  does  the  Lord  take  some  and 
leave  others  ?  Why,  if  such  be  their  glorious  des- 
tiny, must  I  plod  on  in  this  weary  path  below,  when 
I  might  have  been,  even  as  these  have  been  and  are, 
so  much  better  off  in  the  world  beyond  ?  Is  Divinity 
partial  ?  By  no  means.  But  it  is  much  easier  to 
question  the  Lord's  wisdom  than  to  improve  his 
ways.  Keflect  that  earth  is  the  nursery  of  heaven. 
Souls  must  be  born  into  this  life  before  they  can  reach 
that.  If  people  were  all  taken  away  in  infancy,  the 
increase  of  heaven  would  cease.  It  is  in  the  order 
of  the  Lord's  providence  that  heaven  should  increase 
forever.  He  would  set  no  limit  to  the  multitude  that 
shall  inherit  its  joys.  To  all  eternity  shall  the  vast 
caravan,  with  its  ever-multiplying  numbers  of  new- 
born souls,  keep  marching  from  the  world  below  to 
its  holy  Mecca  in  the  world  above.  And  somebody 
must  stay  here  and  endure  the  world's  temptations 
for  a  while,  and  walk  its  rugged  paths,  that  it  may 
remain  the  nursery  of  heaven.  If  there  had  never 
been  an  earth,  there  would  never  have  been  a  heav- 
en ;  if  no  inhabitants  on  earth,  God  would  have 
dwelt  in  solitude  without  an  angel  to  be  blessed  by 
his  love  ;  and  if  all  were  removed  from  earth  in  in- 
fancy, heaven  would  cease  to  grow.  Why  this  or 
that  little  one  is  taken  and  you  and  I  are  left,  we 
must  leave  to  the  wisdom  of  Him  who  orders  all 


106  CHILDREN  IN  HEAVEN. 

things  well.  Let  us  be  thankful  that  so  much  larger 
proportion  of  the  born  on  earth  are  saved,  because 
of  the  removal  of  so  many  in  infancy  and  childhood, 
and  rejoice  that  we  shall  be  permitted  to  rejoin  them 
there,  if  fwe  do  our  work  here  faithfully  and  well. 

Then,  if  we  judge  from  the  known  laws  of  the 
mind  ;  if  we  note  the  fact  that  the  noblest  characters 
have  their  foundations  laid  in  childhood,  we  are  led 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  best  of  the  angels  come  from 
those  who,  being  under  constant  angelic  care,  have 
had  the  best  foundations  laid.  Therefore  the  infants 
soonest  dead  to  earth,  would  mature  into  the  most 
loving  angels  of  the  better  land.  And  perhaps  the 
earlier  removed,  the  more  exalted  the  state  to  which 
they  will  finally  attain.  Then  they  become  in  turn 
the  peculiar  ministers  of  the  Lord  to  men.  Under 
Him,  and  in  his  strength,  they  become  each  in  his 
degree,  the  saviors  of  the  world.  They  are  needed 
above  ;  are  needed  there  for  our  sakes.  Bad  as  the 
world  now  is,  what  would  it  be  without  their  minis- 
trations ?  By  them  the  hearts  of  men  are  held  to 
what  little  spiritual  anchorage  they  have,  and  in 
connection  with  them  is  done  what  good  is  here 
effected. 

Far  be  it  from  me  to  weaken  faith  in  the  Lord's 
immediate  influence  on  man,  by  upholding  the  doc- 
trine of  the  ministry  of  his  supernal  host.  They  go 
together ;  they  are  equally  doctrines  of  truth  Divine. 
But  the  mediate  uses  under  the  Lord's  providence, 
that  are  performed  by  man  upon  his  fellow-man, 
show  how  infinitely  more  useful  can  be  the  angels 
of  his  mercy  to  us  who  remain  on  earth.  And  we 


ARE  PARENTS  FORGOTTEN?  107 

have  in  this  another  reason  why  so  many  infants  are 
taken  from  this  world.  They  are  the  ones  who  can 
receive  from  the  Lord  his  most  exalted  blessings,  his 
most  interior  wisdom  and  love,  and  pass  them  on  to 
us.  They  have  a  use  in  the  order  of  Providence  to 
other  angels  and  to  men.  They  are  needed  above. 
They  must  go  there,  else  the  wisest  plans  of  the  Lord 
would  fail.  What  are  our  aching  hearts  to  the  vast 
and  beneficent  designs  of  the  most  High  ?  What 
are  the  momentary  pangs  we  endure,  to  the  setting 
and  keeping  in  order  of  the  grand  temple  of  hu- 
manity on  earth  and  in  heaven  ?  Cease,  O  man,  to 
measure  your  tears  and  sighs  against  the  eternal 
well-being  of  the  universe !  Calm  your  troubled 
breast,  for  the  salvation  of  the  world  is  in  wiser  and 
more  beneficent  hands  than  yours. 

When  you  send  your  child  to  a  distant  school,  you 
can  bear  it,  you  say,  because  you  have  a  reasonable 
hope  of  meeting  him  again.  What  is  time  to  eternity  ? 
What  is  your  brief  sojourn  on  earth  to  your  ever- 
lasting life  in  the  other  world  ?  And  as  love  is  born 
of  the  spirit,  and  its  heritage  is  immortal,  why  should 
you  not,  as  a  living,  breathing,  human  being,  meet 
again  face  to  face  your  best  beloved,  when  this  clay 
tenement  no  longer  hinders  ?  If  those  who  love  each 
other  best  cannot  meet  on  the  other  shore,  who  can? 

But  will  your  little  one  grow  away  from  you  and 
forget  you  ?  Swedenborg  somewhere  makes  a  deli- 
cate analysis  of  the  likenesses  of  human  minds. 
He  shows  how,  with  all  their  endless  variety,  there 
is  a  common  resemblance  in  features  and  character 
in  each  nation.  Often  the  resemblance  extends  to 


108  CHILDREN  IN  HEAVEN. 

provinces  and  their  subdivisions.  Still  more  marked 
is  this  in  races  and  families — a  fact  which  tends  to 
bind  them  closely  together.  There  is  a  hereditary 
thread  of  love  and  thought  and  disposition  which 
binds  the  members  of  a  race  or  family  in  a  bond 
that  cannot  easily  be  broken.  The  Jewish  race  is  a 
notable  instance  of  this.  In  the  single  family  the 
tie  becomes  much  closer  than  in  the  race.  It  is  the 
link  of  similarity  ;  it  is  a  hereditary  trait  that  breaks 
down  all  apparent  differences ;  an  inward  likeness 
which  forms  a  bond  that,  scattered  as  its  members 
may  be,  in  difficulty  or  trouble,  draws  and  holds 
them  together  in  a  sympathy  that  baffles  explana- 
tion. There  may  be  exceptions ;  but  the  rule  is 
almost  universal. 

Now  similarity  is  the  common  bond  of  souls. 
Similarity  brings  people  together  in  heaven.  Pass- 
ing through  different  experiences  on  earth,  you 
may  acquire  different  tastes ;  but  let  each  soul  be 
regenerated  after  a  heavenly  pattern,  let  each  be 
cleansed  of  its  earthly  dross,  and  it  will  quickly  be 
seen  how  the  hereditary  disposition  or  genius  of 
race,  lineage  and  family  will  bring  together  in  a 
world  of  souls  those  who  have  common  soul- ties. 

Best  assured,  then,  that  if  you  have  become  so 
regenerated  as  to  be  ranked  with  the  heirs  of  heaven ; 
if  your  minds  and  hearts  are  spiritually  knit  togeth- 
er, your  loved  ones  gone  before  will  crowd  around 
you  by  the  very  tie  that  gave  them  birth,  by  their 
very  inheritance  of  your  life,  by  that  very  love  of 
yours  which  ushered  in  their  existence.  Forget 
you  !  Why,  as  born  of  your  life  and  soul,  bound  to 


PREVENTING   SPIRITUAL   SEPARATION.     109 

you  by  the  ties  of  affection  as  well  as  of  birth,  they 
have  been  with  you  ever  since  they  left  this  world. 
They  have  never  deserted  you  unless  in  spirit  you 
have  deserted  them. 

But  not  without  regeneration  can  you  hope  to 
dwell  with  your  departed  offspring  in  the  great  Here- 
after. You  must  be  born  again — born  of  the  Spirit. 
If  you  go  the  wrong  way,  they  will  not  follow. 
Then,  certainly,  separation  must  ensue.  But  they 
will  lead  you  into  heaven  if  you  will  permit  them. 
They  will  wait  for  you  and  watch  with  you  and 
minister  unto  you  if  you  will  let  them.  They  go 
but  one  way ;  if  you  sever  the  cord  by  going  the 
opposite  way,  then,  of  course,  you  are  separated 
from  them. 

Let  us  believe,  rejoicingly,  in  the  wisdom  and 
ways  of  the  Lord  !  Let  us  stand  by  his  Word,  and 
hold  to  his  philosophy,  and  walk  in  his  ways,  and 
rest  in  his  assurances  ;  then  there  will  be  joy  in  the 
present,  hope  for  the  future,  and  peace  for  the  soul 
forever.  There  is  no  security  elsewhere.  Keason 
without  revelation  is  insufficient ;  science  without 
the  Word  of  God  has  no  balm  for  the  soul ;  philoso- 
phy without  Scripture  stops  far  this  side  of  heaven. 
But  live  under  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  and  his 
gracious  revealings,  and  all  is  harmony,  peace  and 
hope  ;  die,  and  the  spirit's  fondest  yearnings  will  be 
all  realized  in  the  mansions  above. 
10 


HELL. 


ill 


HELL. 


i. 

THE  ORIGIN  OF  HELL. 

|HE  matter  of  primary  interest,  and  that  to 
which  we  shall  first  direct  our  attention,  is, 
THE  ORIGIN  OF  HELL.  To  fully  under- 
stand the  origin  of  a  thing,  goes  far  toward  solving 
the  mystery  of  its  nature,  and  its  final  outcome 
and  cure. 

First,  let  us  glance  at  what  is  not  the  origin  of  hell 
and  then  at  what  is. 

The  popular  opinion  and  that  which  has  been 
backed  up  by  a  great  number  of  theologians,  is  so 
puerile,  and  has  so  feeble  a  foundation  to  rest  upon, 
that  it  is  difficult  to  deal  with  it  seriously.  It  is: 
That  there  was  a  race  of  beings  formed  previous  to 
man's  creation,  higher  than  man,  who  were  called 
angels,  and  who  on  account  of  their  purity  and  holi- 
ness dwelt  near  to  God  in  heaven ;  that  a  certain 
portion  of  them,  incited  thereto  by  one  of  the  most 
prominent  and  powerful  named  Lucifer,  sometimes 
also  called  Satan,  and  under  his  leadership,  rebelled 
against  God  ;  that,  in  the  conflict  which  ensued  they 
were  cast  down  from  heaven,  and  became  fallen 
,  angels  or  devils  ;  and  that  since  then,  he  and  they 
10*  H  113 


114  THE   ORIGIN   OF  HELL. 

have  been  the  tormentors,  persecutors  and  tempters 
of  mankind,  seeking  to  lead  us  all  into  the  same 
miserable  hell  that  was  originally  created  for  their 
reception  and  abode. 

John  Milton,  from  the  ground-work  of  mere  tra- 
dition, built  up  his  wonderful  poem  of  "Paradise 
Lost,"  and  worked  out  a  thousand  imaginary  details 
from  this  little  thread  of  superstition  ;  and  lo,  it  be- 
came the  orthodox  faith  of  millions  ! 

But  ask  for  its  Scripture  foundation,  and  all  we 
can  find  is  three  or  four  shreds  that  fall  to  pieces  on 
being  looked  at.  Thus  in  Isaiah,  we  are  pointed  to 
the  text,  "How  art  thou  fallen  from  heaven,  O 
Lucifer,  son  of  the  morning  ! "  *  But  read  that  14th 
chapter,  and  it  is  very  plain  that  there  is  not  a  word 
there  about  Satan  or  his  fall,  but  that  it  is  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, king  of  Babylon,  and  his  fall  that  is  set  forth. 
Nebuchadnezzar  is  apostrophized  as  Lucifer.  Luci- 
fer is  the  Hebrew  name  of  the  morning  star;  and  the 
king's  fall  from  his  pride  and  throne  to  the  condition 
of  an  idiot  and  a  beast,  is  likened  to  the  setting  of 
the  morning  star. 

Then  we  are  pointed  to  the  8th  Psalm,  where  it  is 
written  in  our  English  version :  c '  For  thou  hast  made 
man  a  little  lower  than  the  angels,  "t  seeming  to 
convey  the  idea  of  a  race  of  beings  created  superior 
to  man.  Yet  when  the  original  Hebrew  is  examined 
and  it  is  found  that  the  term  here  rendered  angels  is 
ELOHIM,  the  Hebrew  word  for  GOD,  we  see  that  here 
is  a  mistranslation,  and  that  the  text  is  simply, 

*  xiv.  12.  f  Ps.  viii.  5. 


JUDE'S  STATEMENT  APOCRYPHAL.        115 

u  Thou  hast  made  man  a  little  lower  than  God  ; "  so 
that  this  text  furnishes  no  foundation  for  the  popular 
doctrine  about  fallen  angels. 

But  Jude  in  his  epistle  says :  "  The  angels  which 
kept  not  their  first  estate,  but  left  their  own  habita- 
tion, He  hath  reserved  in  everlasting  chains  under 
darkness  unto  the  judgment  of  the  great  day." 
But  then  Jude's  is  the  least  quoted,  least  read,  least 
important,  and  least  authentic  of  all  the  Epistles. 
He  quotes  one  or  two  Talmudic  traditions  which  re- 
ceive no  countenance  whatever  from  any  portion  of 
the  Bible  as  literal  facts,  to  illustrate  the  point  in 
reference  to  the  condemnation  which  he  seeks  to 
make.  This  particular  quotation  is  certainly  too 
obscure  to  build  a  doctrine  upon,  if  we  accept  it  as 
intended  to  be  given  as  a  literal  fact.  Besides,  this 
is  known  to  be  a  verbal  quotation  from  a  pretended 
scripture  called  the  u  Book  of  Enoch,"  which  has 
been  pronounced  spurious  by  the  best  Biblical  schol- 
ars ;  and  Jude  uses  it  not  as  a  fact,  but  as  I  would 
use  a  mythic  tale  to  point  a  moral  or  illustrate  a 
position. 

The  text  from  Genesis  that  "  The  sons  of  God  saw 
the  daughters  of  men  that  they  were  fair,  and  took 
wives  of  them,"  is  the  last.  But  it  is  so  much  more 
easy  and  rational  to  take  the  expression  "sons  of 
God  "  in  the  same  sense  that  it  is  used  in  all  other 
places  in  Scripture,  as  those  who  are  in  faith,  and 
thence  in  love  and  obedience  to  Him,  than  to  believe 
that  disembodied  angels  openly  and  visibly  lived  in 
marital  relations  with  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth, 


116  THE   ORIGIN  OF  HELL. 

that  it  is  difficult  to  imagine  how  any  one  could  ever 
have  thought  of  this  latter  interpretation. 

So  the  doctrine  of  original  or  fallen  angels,  and  the 
origin  of  hell  thence,  has  only  this  to  rest  upon — no 
more.  We  therefore  dismiss  it  from  further  con- 
sideration ;  and  assert,  that  so  far  as  Scripture  au- 
thority is  concerned,  it  has  none.  We  are  then  pre- 
pared for  the  only  conclusion  left,  that  whatever 
there  is  of  hell  is  from  the  human  race  ;  that  what- 
ever devils  there  are,  are  the  souls  of  the  wicked 
who  have  once  lived  in  this  world. 

I  say  the  souls  of  the  wicked.  For  is  not  the  soul 
or  spirit  the  real  man  ?  Is  not  the  material  body 
simply  the  machine  which  the  spirit  uses  for  the 
purposes  of  this  world's  life  ?  Do  we  not  know, 
each  one  by  his  individual  experience — it  requires 
no  philosophy  to  tell  us  this — that  it  is  the  soul 
which  thinks,  understands,  loves,  wills,  reasons,  in- 
tends ?  Is  it  not  the  will-faculty  of  the  soul  which 
sets  in  motion  the  activities  of  the  body  ?  Can  the 
body  move  in  any  direction  or  perform  any  action, 
except  as  the  will  determines  ?  Is  not  the  body  a 
simple  machine,  so  made  that  the  soul  may  inhabit 
it,  operate  upon  it,  move  it  hither  and  thither, 
cause  it  to  do  this  or  that  according  to  its  own  vo- 
lition ?  Is  it  not  the  soul  that  sees  through  the 
eyes,  hears  through  the  ears,  feels  through  the 
fingers  and  tastes  through  the  tongue  ? 

Yes ;  the  soul  is  the  man  and  the  body  is  the 
semblance  of  the  man.  The  body  is  no  more  re- 
sponsible for  the  murderous  blow,  the  burglarious 
robbery,  or  the  monstrous  lie,  than  is  the  ship  for 


THE  SOUL   AN  ORGANISM.  Ill 

the  direction  in  which  it  is  steered  by  the  helmsman 
or  driven  by  the  wind.  It  is  no  more  responsible 
for  its  acts  than  is  the  submarine  armor  which  is 
sent  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  for  the  movements  to 
which  it  is  directed  by  the  human  being  it  encases, 
or  than  the  automaton  chess-player  for  the  action 
given  to  the  springs  of  its  arm  by  the  man  concealed 
within. 

The  soul  is  not  only  the  real  man,  but  it  is  an  intri- 
cate organism.  Let  us  cease  to  think  of  it  as  an  un- 
organized phantom,  a  puff  of  breath,  a  vapor  of  the 
imagination.  Organic  power  cannot  be  exercised 
by  inorganic  life.  If  one  strikes  a  blow  under  the 
propulsion  given  to  the  hand  by  the  force  of  the  will, 
which  will  fell  an  athlete  to  the  ground,  it  is  absurd 
to  say  that  that  will-power  was  an  unorganized 
breath.  You  might  as  well  call  the  lightning  that 
rends  the  sturdy  oak  a  freak  of  nature,  without 
quality,  elements  or  laws.  The  soul  is  a  tremen- 
dous fact  and  force  ;  and  because  scientists  have  thus 
far  failed  to  find  it,  to  dissect  it  surgically  or  resolve 
it  chemically,  this  does  not  alter  or  lessen  truth. 
Your  experience  and  mine,  the  very  fact  that  we 
possess  numberless  faculties,  that  we  are  swayed  to 
and  fro  by  their  impulses,  that  we  love,  know,  will, 
think,  and  by  them  act — these  are  worth,  as  proofs 
of  the  organic  spirit  within  and  of  its  reality  as  the 
truly  living  man,  more  than  all  the  failures  of  all  the 
scientists  who  ever  lived. 

The  soul  or  spirit  is  the  real  man.  It  is  organized 
thought  and  understanding,  love  and  affection,  will 
and  purpose.  The  character  of  that  thought,  under- 


118  THE   ORIGIN  OF  HELL. 

standing,  love,  affection,  will  and  purpose,  is  the  char- 
acter of  the  man.  The  understanding  may  be  orderly 
or  perverted  ,  the  thought  may  be  directed  to  mercy 
or  revenge  ;  the  love  may  be  pure  or  impure ;  the 
affection  may  be  directed  to  worthy  or  unworthy 
objects ;  the  will  may  be  for  good  or  for  evil ;  the 
purpose  may  be  to  do  justly  or  unjustly  ;  according 
as  they  are  one  or  the  other  and  according  to  the 
degree  or  quantity  or  manner  in  which  they  veer  to 
the  one  side  or  the  other,  such  is  the  moral  charac- 
ter of  the  man. 

It  is  not  a  question  of  what  the  body  does  ;  it  is  a 
question  of  what  the  soul  causes  the  body  to  do.  A 
killing,  unintended  as  such  by  the  soul  within,  is  no 
murder.  Even  the  law  knows  that.  Eut  a  killing 
done  from  intended  malice,  is  a  crime.  An  appro- 
priation of  another's  goods  with  the  belief  of  the 
soul  that  they  were  one's  own,  is  no  theft ;  but  the 
same  act  with  the  desire  and  intention  to  appropri- 
ate to  one's  self  what  belongs  to  another,  is  felony. 
Therefore  it  is  not  the  act  in  and  of  itself  which 
makes  the  character  ;  it  is  the  inherent  evil  of  the 
soul  which  goes  forth  into  evil  deeds. 

Each  soul  has  its  own  quality  or  character.  That 
character  is  as  much  a  part  of  it,  and  distinguishes 
as  clearly  one  man  from  another,  as  peculiarities  of 
countenance  and  form  distinguish  persons  one  from 
another ;  as  peculiarities  of  conformation  and  color 
distinguish  apple  from  acorn,  rose  from  violet.  That 
character  is  ingrained.  It  is  changed  only  by  long 
and  habitual  practice.  Vice  gives  way  to  virtue, 
ignorance  to  education,  vulgarity  to  refinement, 


UNCHANGED  BY  DEA TH.  119 

evil  to  good,  only  by  careful  cultivation,  assiduous 
watchfulness,  much  self-forcing,  sincere  repentance 
and  earnest  prayer.  What  the  soul  is,  that  the 
character  is,  at  any  rate  for  the  time  ;  and  the  body 
may  be  stripped  away,  the  outward  husk  may  be 
peeled  off,  may  die,  decay,  perish — still  when  the 
soul  stands  forth  on  the  spiritual  plane  in  another 
world  as  a  purely  spirit-man,  it  will  stand  there  as 
to  quality  and  character  just  what  it  was  here. 
Just  as  it  left  here,  will  it  emerge  there  ;  with  the 
same  thoughts,  feelings,  tastes,  sympathies  and 
habits  ;  with  the  same  methods  of  comprehending 
things,  and  with  affections  similarly  placed  :  if  good, 
good  ;  if  bad,  bad  ;  if  mixed,  mixed.  It  is  the  old 
doctrine,  "As  the  tree  falls,  so  it  lies."  As  it  is  in 
this  world,  so  it  is  in  the  next.  And  this,  because 
it  is  the  soul  which  passes  from  this  world  into  the 
next ;  and  it  necessarily  takes  itself  just  as  it  is  with 
it.  It  is  the  doctrine  enunciated  in  the  closing  chap- 
ter of  holy  Writ :  He  that  is  unjust  will  be  unjust 
still ;  he  that  is  filthy  will  be  filthy  still ;  he  that  is 
holy  will  be  holy  still ;  and  he  that  is  righteous  will 
be  righteous  still. 

It  is  in  vain  that  we  sentimentalize  over  what  we 
imagine  the  mercy  and  love  of  God  ought  to  be. 
Facts  stare  us  in  the  face.  What  we  are,  we  are. 
What  we  are  here,  we  are  the  next  hour  after  we 
have  gone  from  here -and  stand  consciously  on  the 
spirit  plane.  If  character  could  be  buried  with  the 
body,  if  quality  of  heart  could  moulder  away  with 
the  flesh,  it  were  different.  But  the  character  of 
the  soul  is  the  soul  itself,  and  the  quality  of  the 


120  THE   ORIGIN  OF  HELL. 

spirit  is  the  spirit ;  and  in  the  same  moral  and  spir- 
itual direction  that  the  tree  fell  here,  as  the  axe  of 
the  woodman,  Death,  cleaved  it  to  the  earth,  in  the 
same  direction  will  it  lie  beyond  the  grave.  As  it 
believed  here,  so  will  it  believe  there  ;  as  it  thought, 
spake,  loved  here,  so  will  it  think,  speak  and  love 
there.  The  soul  is  unchanged  ;  it  has  simply  lost 
its  natural  vesture. 

Both  Heaven  and  Hell  are  conditions  of  the  soul. 
They  are  names  given  to  two  qualities  of  man's 
spirit,  to  two  leading  characteristics  of  humanity. 
Nothing  tells  the  story  better  than  the  very  deriva- 
tion of  the  words— good  old  Saxon  words,  with  plain 
and  distinctive  meanings.  Heaven  means  high, 
arched  or  elevated ;  hell,  deep,  depressed  or  low. 
Heaven  is  within  you,  Hell  is  within  you  ;  and  the 
outside  heaven  or  hell  is  made  by  the  outcome  of 
that  which  is  within.  Whoever  is  elevated  in  un- 
derstanding, character  and  virtue,  basking  in  the 
sunlight  of  God,  is  a  heaven  within  himself;  who- 
ever is  low,  ignoble,  mean  and  selfish,  turned  away 
from  the  holy  influences  of  the  Most  High,  is  a  hell 
within  himself. 

Hell  is  throughout  the  world.  It  is  in  your  gam- 
bling dens,  your  gin  palaces,  your  stock  exchanges, 
your  halls  of  debauchery ;  it  is  in  your  homes,  by 
your  firesides  and  in  your  stores  ;  in  your  courts 
and  senate  chambers,  in  so  far  as  evil  influences 
control  and  govern  there  ;  it  is  where  every  murder, 
arson,  theft  or  other  crime  is  committed,  and  is  the 
inspiring  breath  of  each ;  wherever  revengeful  hearts 
have  met,  or  words  of  falsehood  or  hate  are  spoken, 


HELL   IN  ALL   EVIL    HEARTS.  121 

or  drunken  footsteps  totter ;  it  is  in  every  life  of 
meanness  and  shame ;  in  all  the  greeds  of  selfish- 
ness, in  all  the  frailties  of  depravity,  and  in  every 
alluring  snare  of  sin.  Hellish  hearts  make  hell  all 
over  this  beautiful  green  earth.  What  will  they 
make  but  hell,  wherever  they  go— to  Europe,  Asia, 
or  the  far-off  isles  of  the  Indian  Sea  V  to  the  sphere 
beyond  the  grave— the  life  that  opens  to  us  after 
death  ? 

The  origin  of  hell  is  here,  nowhere  else.  "God 
made  man  upright,  but  he  hath  sought  out  many 
inventions,"  says  Solomon.  God  made  man  and 
man  made  hell ;  and  this,  contrary  to  the  express 
command  of  God. 

He  said  to  Adam— and  we  are  all  the  Adams  of 
this  allegory — Eat  of  the  tree  of  life  and  you  shall 
live ;  eat  of  the  forbidden  fruit  and  you  shall  die. 
Go  forth,  O  man,  the  noblest  creation  of  the  hand 
of  God,  in  that  you  are  morally  free.  Eat  of  the 
heavenly  fruit ;  live  by  virtue,  wisdom  and  love  ; 
sustain  your  health  and  life  of  soul  by  every  influx 
of  light  and  life  that  proceedeth  from  Above,  from 
Me,  and  you  shall  live  the  most  glorious  life  that 
created  mortal  can  attain — aye,  spiritually  live  for- 
ever. But  eat  of  the  fruit  of  disobedience  to  tlie 
laws  of  God,  nourish  your  soul  with  the  forbidden 
fruit  of  sensuality,  selfishness  and  self-seeking,  and 
in  the  act  your  soul  shall  find  its  moral  death,  its 
spiritual  grave.  Live  in  the  light  of  the  Lord,  and 
all  earth  is  Eden  ;  the  whole  world  is  heaven  ;  and 
the  glory  of  the  heaven  beyond  the  grave  which  you 
here  form  for  yourself,  will  be  unspeakable.  But 
11 


122  THE   ORIGIN   OF  HELL. 

live  in  the  light  of  self  and  turn  your  back  on  the 
wisdom  of  God,  and  your  disobedience  drives  you 
forth  from  Eden,  the  whole  world  is  turned  into  a 
hell  of  violence,  disorder  and  confusion  ;  and  the 
hell  you  have  burned  in  lines  of  moral  fire  within 
the  soul,  will  go  with  you  because  you  go  with  your- 
self to  the  regions  of  the  dead.  And  in  this  you 
have  originated  the  very  hell  against  which  I  warned 
you. 

But  why  was  man  created  free,  when  God's  power 
might  have  made  him  powerless  to  sin  ?  Neither 
you  nor  I  can  fathom  the  unsearchable  wisdom  of 
the  Creator.  We  are  to  believe,  however,  that  there 
is  no  condition  of  life  which  is  at  once  immortal, 
happy  beyond  measure,  and  glorious  beyond  con- 
ception, no  condition  of  life  which  is  in  the  express 
image  and  likeness  of  God's  own  life,  except  that  of 
moral  and  spiritual  freedom.  The  law  of  obedience 
cannot  exist  without  the  possibility  of  disobedience. 
There  can  be  no  light,  except  its  absence  makes  dark- 
ness ;  no  sweet,  that  its  absence  be  not  bitter ;  no  good, 
that  its  absence  be  not  evil ;  no  virtue,  that  its  ab- 
sence be  not  vice  ;  no  freedom,  that  its  absence  be 
not  slavery. 

"We  know  this  is  so.  And  we  know  that  honesty 
under  compulsion  is  not  honesty  ;  that  chastity  un- 
der compulsion  is  not  purity  ;  and  that  no  seeming 
good  done  under  compulsion,  is  good  at  all.  We  know 
that  handcuffs  and  prison-walls  which  forcibly  forbid 
crime,  do  not  make  upright,  noble,  pure  and  godlike 
hearts.  We  know  these  things.  And  we  know 
furthermore  that  the  man  who,  with  temptation  be- 


IN  FREEDOM   TO    CHOOSE.  123 

fore  and  around  him,  manfully  resists  the  evil  and 
seeks  the  good,  who,  with  positive  freedom  of  right 
to  choose  and  choice  to  do,  chooses  the  wisdom  of 
God  and  does  his  law,  becomes  strong  in  his  virtue 
beyond  temptation,  pure  in  his  purposes  beyond  de- 
filement, noble  in  his  life  beyond  the  conception  of 
him  who  has  never  been  tried  and  strengthened. 
Freely  chosen  virtue  is  the  only  virtue  ;  all  other  is 
spurious.  A  voluntary  life  of  good  in  the  overcom- 
ing of  evil,  is  the  only  good  ;  the  other  is  blind  force. 
A  freely  chosen  heaven  is  the  only  heaven ;  the  other 
would  be — outwardly  good  as  it  might  seem — a  mere 
brute  indifference  which  is  not  heaven  at  all.  But 
as  the  laws  of  good  are  God's,  and  freedom  is  his 
best  gift,  and  freedom  presupposes  the  power  to  dis- 
obey and  turn  aside,  it  is  plain  that  hell  here  and 
hereafter  originated  with  the  perversity  of  man. 

No  Christian  can  say  this  freedom  is  not  ours. 
The  very  primal  law  as  expressed  in  Deuteronomy, 
"  Behold  I  set  before  you  a  blessing  and  a  curse  ;  a 
blessing  if  ye  obey  my  commandments,  and  a  curse 
if  ye  obey  them  not,"*  presupposes  power  to  obey 
or  disobey.  The  constant  injunction  of  Christ  in 
phrases  similar  to  this,  u  If  ye  would  enter  into  life, 
keep  the  commandments,"!  implies  beyond  cavil 
the  freedom  to  keep  or  not  to  keep. 

So  we  conclude  that  whatever  there  is  of  hell 
originates  from  the  human  race  ;  that  immortal 
blessedness  can  only  be  given,  even  by  the  Lord, 
through  freely  chosen  godliness  ;  that  freedom  of 

*  Deut.  xi.  26-28.  f  Matt.  xix.  17. 


124  THE   ORIGIN   OF   HELL. 

choice  carries  with  it  the  power  to  disobey  the  Di- 
vine injunctions  ;  that  the  voluntary  rejection  of  the 
Lord  and  the  life  He  offers,  brings  hell  on  earth  ; 
that  hell  is  interwoven  in  the  character ;  that  in- 
fernal souls  carry  with  them  beyond  the  grave  the 
hell  they  have  chosen  here  ;  and  that  in  the  words 
of  Scripture,  the  wicked  are  turned  into  hell  simply 
by  being  "snared  in  the  work  of  their  own  hands." 

But  there  is  in  all  this  a  moral  of  deep  significance. 
Whatever  there  is  in  the  dreary  desolation  of  the  soul 
which  has  said,  "  Evil  be  thou  my  good,"  is  of  the 
soul's  own  choosing.  If  God  cannot  make  angels 
without  their  being  free,  because  angelic  virtue  im- 
plies that  degree  of  spiritual  strength  which  has  con- 
quered temptation  in  its  voluntarily  wielding  the 
sword  of  the  Lord,  He  has  at  least  given  and  gives 
us  every  moment  the  strength  to  overcome.  It  is 
ours  to  live  ;  it  is  ours  to  die.  It  is  ours  to  succumb  ; 
it  is  ours  to  overcome.  All  is  ours  in  the  Lord's 
strength. 

But,  "Blessed  are  they  that  do  his  command- 
ments, that  they  may  have  right  to  the  tree  of  life, 
and  may  enter  in  through  the  gates  into  the  city." 
We  are  making  hells  or  heavens  every  day.  We  are 
originating  new  heavens  or  new  hells  for  the  eternal 
world,  in  every  act  and  thought  and  purpose  of  our 
lives.  Which  shall  it  be? — the  blessing  or  the  curse  ? 


IL 

THE  NATURE  OF  HELL. 

read  in  the  gospel  of  John :  u  This  is  the 
"  condemnation,  that  light  has  come  into  the 
world,  and  men  loved  darkness  rather  than 
light,  because  their  deeds  were  evil."  (Johniii.  19.) 
This  is  a  truth  of  universal  application.  It  was  not 
more  peculiarly  suited  to  the  time  of  Christ  than  to 
other  ages  ;  nor  more  appropriately  said  to  the  Jews 
than  to  other  men.  Humanity  is  not  condemned 
because  it  does  not  believe  in  Moses,  in  the  Pope,  or 
even  in  Christ.  It  is  not  condemned  because  it  does 
not  believe  in  the  Trinity,  in  the  Atonement,  or  in 
immersion.  It  is  condemned  in  this  :  that  the  light 
of  true  life  having  been  in  all  ages  held  up  before 
the  world ;  in  all  ages  there  have  been  those  who 
loved  spiritual  darkness  rather  than  light,  because 
an  evil  life  was  more  loved  by  them  than  a  good 
life, — because  sin  to  their  hearts  was  dearer  than  sal- 
vation. 

The  belief  in  erroneous  doctrine  damns  no  man. 
The  force  of  education,  strong  hereditary  tendencies 
of  thought,  a  limited  degree  of  rationality,  birth 
among  a  people  who  have  never  known  the  truth, 
imbecility  or  ignorance — any  or  all  of  these  causes 
may  prevent  people  from  acknowledging,  in  this 
world,  the  higher  truths.  But  it  is  not  more  cer- 
11*  125 


126  THE  NATURE   OF  HELL. 

tain  that  a  ship  when  the  dry  rot  has  gained  the 
mastery  of  its  frame,  will  go  down,  or  that  a  tree 
when  decay  has  struck  its  roots,  will  die,  than  that, 
when  evil  life  has  struck  to  the  heart,  man's  con- 
demnation follows.  Ignorance  may  be  enlightened ; 
a  weak  understanding  may  be  strengthened  ;  error 
may  be  acknowledged  ;  sin  even,  committed  in  mo- 
ments of  weakness,  or  in  ignorance  of  its  evil,  or 
with  a  yearning  for  a  mastery  over  it,  may  be  re- 
pented of,  atoned  for,  pardoned.  But  moral  leprosy 
condemns  of  itself.  It  needs  no  Divine  voice  to 
speak  the  condemnation,  for  the  fact  is  self-evident. 
The  human  heart-ship  goes  down ;  we  see  it  sink. 
The  human  tree  stands  blasted  ;  we  see  its  naked- 
ness. The  soul  is  damned,  not  for  its  want  of  belief, 
but  because  of  the  inward  rottenness  which  causes 
the  unbelief;  not  because  it  cannot  see,  but  because, 
loving  the  evil  which  the  divine  light  reveals  and 
condemns,  it  does  not  wish  to  see. 

I  do  not  like  the  word  our  Bible-translators  so 
often  use — damnation.  Condemnation  is  the  same 
word,  but  it  sounds  better.  Damnation  has  acquired 
a  false  theological  meaning.  When  we  use  it,  we 
think  of  an  arbitrary  God  casting  into  torment  a  lost 
soul  because  he  denies  a  certain  creed.  Its  signifi- 
cance has  become  horrible,  terrific.  But  condemna- 
tion seems  to  come  to  us  with  a  softer  inflection.  A 
thief  is  condemned  or  sentenced  to  jail  because  of 
his  crime.  Really  it  is  his  crime  that  condemns  himr 
not  the  judge.  The  judge  is  only  the  mouth-piece 
of  the  law.  So  sin  condemns  a  soul,  not  the  Lord, 
The  love  of  sin  has  its  law.  The  law  is  that  of 


NATURE   OF   CONDEMNATION.  127 

moral  degradation.  It  is  inherent  in  the  sin,  and  is 
the  result  of  no  vengeance  on  the  part  of  any  higher 
power.  A  ship  is  said  to  be  condemned  when  it  is 
pronounced  unseaworthy.  But  there  is  no  maledic- 
tion or  revenge  in  the  matter.  It  is  its  own  inher- 
ent rottenness  that  condemns  it.  The  Greek  word 
so  often  translated  damnation,  is  the  same  as  the 
one  which  is  rendered  condemnation.  The  difference 
is  not  in  Divine  inspiration,  but  in  the  taste  of 
translators  in  selecting  English  words  to  represent 
the  Greek. 

The  nature  of  hell,  therefore,  involves  the  nature 
of  damnation  or  condemnation.  When  we  get  at 
what  condemnation  is,  we  have  arrived  at  the  nature 
of  Hell. 

In  the  last  lecture  we  reached  these  definite  con- 
clusions justified  by  reason  and  Scripture :  That  im- 
mortal blessedness  can  only  be  given  to  a  being  who 
is  rationally  free  to  choose  the  good ;  that  a  man 
morally  free  is  the  only  virtuous  man,  the  only  holy 
man,  and  the  only  happy  man,  in  the  Divine  sense 
of  these  terms  ;  that  freedom  of  choice  carries  with 
it  the  power  to  disobey  the  Divine  injunctions  ;  that 
the  voluntary  rejection  of  the  Lord  and  the  life  of 
good  which  He  offers,  brings  evil  and  hell  on  earth  ; 
that  hell  is  simply  the  love  of  vice  interwoven  in  the 
character ;  that  therefore  wicked  souls  carry  with 
them  beyond  the  grave  the  hell  they  have  made  and 
chosen  here ;  that  they  must  do  so  because  they 
arrive  there  with  the  same  characters  with  which 
they  left  here ;  and  therefore  whatever  there  is  of 
hell  hereafter,  originated  from  the  human  race. 


128  THE  NATURE   OF  HELL. 

We  say  that  hell  begins  here.  We  know  it  is  so, 
for  the  fact  is  before  our  eyes.  We  have  only  to 
look  within  ourselves  and  see  if  there  is  any  wrong 
desire,  impure  thought,  or  wicked  device  ;  and  so 
much  as  there  is  of  these,  so  much  of  hell  is  there  in 
the  heart.  We  are  under  the  condemnation  just  so 
far  as  we  love  and  act  from  what  is  evil  and  wrong. 

Who  condemns  us  ?  Is  it  God  ?  By  no  means. 
God  is  all  love  and  mercy.  But  in  creating  man,  the 
noblest  of  all  created  beings,  He  has  gathered  to- 
gether and  centred  in  him  the  highest  faculties 
which  can  be  given  to  a  creature  and  not  make  that 
creature  equal  with  himself.  One  of  these  is  free- 
dom. Man  is  no  slave.  He  is  no  dog  that  he  must 
fawn  by  the  inherent  force  of  his  nature  ;  no  tiger 
that  he  must  rend  and  tear  by  the  unavoidable 
instinct  within  him  ;  no  lamb  that  he  must  be 
meek  by  Divine  compulsion.  Man  is  morally  free  ; 
spiritually  a  child  of  liberty.  This  is  the  main  dif- 
ference between  man  and  beast.  The  beast  is  what 
he  is  by  nature.  Man  is  what  he  makes  himself. 
True,  he  may  have  a  hereditary  proclivity  this  way 
or  that ;  but  he  is  free  to  overcome  his  hereditary 
proclivity. 

Law  is  law.  It  is  not  a  thing  to  toy  or  sport  over, 
whose  decrees  may  be  changed  with  every  human 
whim.  While  man  is  free,  he  must  obey  the  inher- 
ent law  of  his  creation  or  suffer  the  consequences. 
Physically,  morally  and  spiritually  it  is  the  same. 
If  he  jumps  from  the  third  story  of  a  lofty  building, 
the  law  of  gravity  will  break  his  bones.  If  he  places 
himself  on  the  revolving  mill-wheel,  the  laws  of  me- 


VIOLATION  OF  LAW  CONDEMNS.          129 

chanics  will  crush  him.  If  he  puts  his  arm  in  the  fire, 
the  law  of  heat  will  burn  it  off.  So  with  the  opera- 
tion of  depraved  tastes.  If  through  gluttony  he 
tampers  with  the  laws  of  his  physical  system,  the 
offended  law  sends  upon  him  dyspepsia  or  gout.  If 
he  drinks  to  excess,  it  sends  upon  him  delirium  tre- 
mens.  Or  if  he  lives  a  riotous  life,  it  inflicts  upon 
him  horrible  diseases. 

Now  God  does  not  send  these  things  upon  man. 
His  laws  are  inherent  in  creation.  He  has  created 
things  for  the  best ;  and  if  He  could  have  made  them 
better  He  would.  He  could  not  create,  and  withdraw 
all  law  from  the  objects  created.  He  could  not  cre- 
ate, and  say :  "  Violate  the  laws  of  creation  as  you 
please  ;  run  riot  in  your  perversions  of  my  best  gifts ; 
and  the  very  laws  by  which  they  were  made  and  by 
means  of  which  they  exist,  shall  be  suspended  in 
order  to  demonstrate  my  love  and  mercy. "  No :  He 
could  not  do  that,  and  for  a  very  simple  reason.  God 
is  the  law  ;  and  He  works  by  the  means  which  He 
himself  is,  and  cannot  possibly  work  against 'Him- 
self. There  is  reason  in  all  things  ;  and  this  seems 
very  reasonable.  Obeying  and  disobeying  law  must 
produce  opposite  results.  And  if  the  one  is  beauty 
and  order  and  blessedness,  the  other  must  be  deform- 
ity and  disorder  and  condemnation. 

Thus,  what  is  philosophically  and  physically  true, 
is  morally  and  spiritually  true.  The  spirit  of  man 
is  an  organized  being  or  substance.  If  it  acts  in  har- 
mony with  the  laws  which  the  Creator  impressed 
upon  it,  it  is  healthy  and  happy.  If  it  does  not,  it 
is  unhealthy  and  unhappy.  If  it  studies  those  sci- 
I 


130  THE  NATURE  OF  HELL. 

ences  and  practices  those  arts  which  all  recognize 
as  healthy  and  invigorating,  the  mind  is  constantly 
and  in  an  orderly  manner  strengthened  and  ex- 
panded. If  it  reads  French  novels  and  gloats  over 
the  horrible  things  in  the  Police  Gazette,  it  will  be- 
come weakened  and  debased.  If  the  affections  are 
placed  on  high  and  worthy  objects,  they  grow  more 
heavenly  every  day  ;  if  on  things  sensuous,  low  and 
mean,  they  daily  grow  more  hellish.  If  we  cul- 
tivate amiability,  purity  of  thought,  sincerity,  truth- 
fulness, honesty,  courage,  we  are  slowly  becoming 
angels  ;  if  we  are  nursing  selfishness,  vanity,  pride, 
passion  and  the  like,  we  are  becoming  devils.  If 
we  are  yielding  ourselves  to  the  gentle  influence  of 
Christ  and  his  angels,  and  loving  more  and  more 
the  aesthetics  of  Divine  life,  we  are  becoming  grad- 
ually filled  with  the  Lord's  spirit ;  and  that  is  heaven. 
If  we  are  loving  and  choosing  what  the  Lord  con- 
demns, and  living  as  demons  live,  we  are  drifting 
away  from  the  Lord,  losing  life  ;  and  that  is  hell. 

In  these  respects  the  soul  is  the  seat  of  it  all. 
Love  and  affection,  mind  and  thought,  intellect  and 
character,  will  and  understanding  are  the  constituent 
elements  of  the  soul.  What  these  are  the  soul  is. 
The  soul,  therefore,  may  be  healthy  or  diseased  ac- 
cording to  its  intellectual  or  affectional  tone.  It  is 
sound  or  vitiated  according  to  its  quality.  These 
things  are  as  we  choose  and  make  them.  If  we  live 
and  love  a  life  of  order,  virtue  and  Divine  law,  it  is 
life  for  the  spirit ;  if  of  disorder,  vice  and  disobedi- 
ence, we  are  under  condemnation.  But  the  condem- 
nation is  not  from  the  fiat  of  God,  it  is  in  the  rotten- 


NO    VENGEANCE  IN  GOD.  131 

ness  of  our  spirits.  As  decay  of  timbers  is  the 
condemnation  of  the  ship,  as  ill  health,  the  result 
of  violation  of  physical  law,  is  the  condemnation  of 
the  body,  so  disease  of  the  mind,  rottenness  of  heart, 
all  violations  of  the  Divine  law,  are  the  condemna- 
tion of  the  soul.  God  has  no  vengeance  to  appease, 
no  arbitrary  stripes  to  inflict  on  the  poor,  writhing, 
human  worm  because  he  has  sinned  ;  but  vice  and 
crime  are  corruptions  of  the  spirit,  which  of  them- 
selves condemn  the  soul,  and  leave  it  incapable  of 
enjoying  the  blessings  or  rewards  which  follow  vir- 
tue and  obedience.  And  there  is  no  other  damnation 
or  condemnation  taught  in  the  Bible,  or  known  to 
natural  or  spiritual  existence,  than  this. 

Here  are  the  sheep ;  there  are  the  goats.  That 
they  must  be  separated  in  their  final  homes,  is  not 
an  arbitrary  appointment  of  the  Lord  ;  it  is  an  in- 
herent necessity.  God  does  not  separate  them ; 
their  characters  separate  them.  Imagine,  if  you 
please,  you  who  love  peace  and  order  and  refine- 
ment, cultivated  manners  and  pure  conversation — 
you  who  love  intellectual  pleasures  and  virtuous 
society — imagine  your  being  called  upon  to  live  for- 
ever with  the  savage  and  filthy  Indians  of  the  plains, 
with  the  debased  Hottentots  of  Africa,  or  worse 
still,  with  the  creatures  of  vice,  debauchery  and 
crime  that  swarm  in  some  of  the  hideous  alleys  of 
our  own  city.  Why,  the  very  thought  is  revolting. 
Death  were  far  preferable  to  such  a  life.  Annihila- 
tion would  be  a  blessing  in  comparison.  So  in  the 
other  world  will  the  pure,  the  wise  and  the  good, 
they  who  love  the  Lord  and  his  laws,  fly  with  bated 


132  THE  NATURE   OF  HELL. 

breath  and  trembling  hearts  from  the  presence  of 
the  self-condemned,  from  those  polluted  with  evil 
and  corrupted  with  crime,  from  those  who  despise 
God's  laws,  contemn  his  ways,  laugh  at  virtue  and 
worship  vice.  Reverse  the  picture.  Will  not  these 
latter  equally  despise  you,  scorn.your  society,  spit 
upon  your  pretensions  as  hypocrisy  ?  Why,  the 
devils  would  suffocate  in  the  atmosphere  of  heaven, 
as  surely  as  would  the  angels  in  that  of  hell.  The 
sheep  and  the  goats  will  separate  hereafter  by  mutual 
repulsion.  No  fiat  of  God  will  send  them  to  either 
side.  Each  will  seek  his  own ;  and  the  hells  and 
heavens  are  formed  by  the  law  of  mutual  repulsion. 

With  stronger  force  does  this  truth  press  upon  us 
when  we  remember  that  in  the  other  world,  "  there 
is  nothing  covered  that  shall  not  be  revealed,  nor 
hid  that  shall  not  be  known."  The  devil  may  walk 
the  halls  of  virtue  here  for  purposes  of  deviltry. 
But  when  the  mask  is  stripped  off,  and  hypocrisy 
can  serve  him  no  longer,  and  his  schemes  are  baffled 
in  their  concoction,  then  he  like  all  others  will  seek 
his  own.  In  short,  if  the  wicked  were  forced  into 
heaven,  it  would  be  no  heaven  to  them,  but  a  place 
of  torment  from  which  they  would  long  to  be  de- 
livered. 

We  must  not  be  frightened  at  mere  names.  The 
name  has  been  abused,  and  frightful  pictures  of  God's 
eternal  vengeance  and  man's  everlasting  torment, 
held  up  under  its  shadow.  But  the  condition  never- 
theless exists,  however  much  the  pictures  may  be 
misdrawn.  But  does  it  not  begin  to  dawn  upon  us, 
that  while  that  condition  or  state  called  hell  is  a 


DIVINE  MERCY  FAR-REACHING.  133 

thing  of  man's  own  invention,  the  region  in  the 
other  (so  called)  world,  the  separate  allotment,  the 
government  of  its  subjects,  their  treatment  by  the 
Lord,  may  all  be  matters  of  his  immediate  love  and 
mercy  ?  If  heaven  would  be  hell  to  that  class  of 
spirits,  would  not  pivine  Love  permit  them  to  sepa- 
rate themselves  from  its  inhabitants  ?  Would  not 
Divine  Love  rather  ameliorate  their  sufferings  than 
increase  them  ?  Would  not  our  Lord  act  the  part 
of  the  exemplar  He  has  himself  held  up,  the  good 
Samaritan,  and  pour  oil  into  their  wounds  rather 
than  aggravate  their  torture  ? 

The  doctrine  of  eternal  torment  is  more  hellish 
than  hell  itself.  Divine  Love  must  be  very  healing 
in  its  nature  ;  Divine  mercy  very  far-reaching.  It 
is  impossible,  inherently  impossible,  to  get  away 
from  the  presence  of  the  omnipotent  One  ;  and  his 
presence  carries  blessings  of  some  kind  wherever  it 
is.  Nothing  can  be  more  true  than  the  words  of 
David,  u  If  I  ascend  up  into  heaven,  thou  art  there: 
if  I  make  my  bed  in  hell,  behold,  thou  art  there  !  "  * 
But  more  particularly  concerning  this  in  my  next 
lecture  on  the  Duration  of  Hell. 

From  these  principles  we  arrive  at  some  definite 
conclusions  with  respect  to  the  nature  of  Hell.  It 
cannot  be  a  vast  cavern  in  whose  darkness  lost  souls 
are  eternally  confined.  It  cannot  be  a  lake  of  fire 
in  whose  sulphurous  flames  the  damned  are  eternally 
burned.  It  cannot  answer  to  any  of  the  pictures 
which  superstition  has  so  eagerly  painted.  Deprive 

*  Ps.  cxxxix.  8. 
12 


134  THE  NATURE   OF  HELL. 

it  of  everything  like  Divine  vengeance,  and  you 
separate  it  from  all  the  fable  and  mythology  of  the 
mediaeval  priests.  True,  there  will  be  left  the  dif- 
ference, whatever  that  is,  between  a  spirit  condition 
and  a  body  condition,  between  a  spirit  world  and  an 
earthly  world.  But  after  that,  v&  have  only  to  look 
to  an  earthly  hell  in  order  to  determine  the  nature 
of  the  one  beyond  the  grave.  The  fires  that  burn 
here  will  burn  there — no  other. 

Hell  is  altogether  of  the  heart.  Whatever  sur- 
roundings it  has  are  those  which  outflow  from  the 
heart.  Whatever  is  created  about  it  or  takes  form 
within  the  circle  of  its  influence,  is  simply  the  out- 
growth, the  result,  the  fashion  of  the  heart  within, 
or  of  such  debilitated  intelligence  as  goes  with  it. 
You  see  a  man  who  is  in  soul  disorderly.  The  result 
is,  that  so  far  as  he  is  concerned  in  the  creation  of 
the  circumstances  around  him,  all  will  be  disorderly. 
His  room  will  be  upside  down,  his  accounts  will  be 
in  confusion,  and  he  will  never  be  on  time.  A  woman 
slovenly  by  nature,  will  be  a  slattern  in  dress,  her 
house  will  be  topsy-turvy,  and  her  cookery  a  thing 
that  particular  people  will  not  crave.  The  man  and 
woman  may  be  very  good  in  their  way,  and  advanc- 
ing in  the  heavenly  life  ;  but  there  is  something  of 
hell  left  in  their  souls,  and  it  bespatters  all  their  sur- 
roundings. Now,  in  the  other  world  where  we  live 
out  without  let  or  hindrance  the  spirit's  own  char- 
acter, what  kind  of  surroundings  do  you  imagine  the 
irretrievable  slattern  would  create  ?  Is  the  Lord 
going  to  force  her  to  be  neat  ?  If  so,  why  does  He 


SURROUNDINGS   OF  DEVILS.  135 

not  do  so  now  and  here  ?  If  not  here,  what  reason 
have  we  for  thinking  He  will  do  so  there  ? 

Or  take  the  case  of  thieves,  cut- throats,  profligates 
and  gamblers.  They  have  their  peculiar  tastes,  hab- 
its and  surroundings.  They  come  into  them  as  nat- 
urally and  revel  in  them  as  unctuously  as  swine  in 
their  mire.  Their  boon  companions  and  their  sur- 
roundings correspond  with  their  own  inward  states. 
It  is  unnecessary  to  describe  them.  To  us  they  are 
forbidding  and  disgusting  ;  to  them  they  are  attrac- 
tive and  agreeable.  To  us  their  habits  and  con- 
versation are  repuls'ive  ;  to  them  they  are  enjoyable. 
It  is  their  style  of  heaven ;  they  would  be  out  of 
place  in  a  better  one ;  and  a  better  one  would  be 
unsuitable  to  them. 

But  this  is  only  for  illustration.  It  calls  attention 
to  the  nature  of  the  difference  which  exists  even 
here  between  the  homes  of  the  virtuous  and  the 
homes  of  the  wicked.  Each  one  lives  out  his  own 
life,  and  surrounds  himself  to  a  certain  degree  with 
the  things  that  are  to  his  taste.  How  can  we  doubt 
but  that  the  same  law  will  prevail  in  the  other  world  ? 
Self-separated,  each  class  will  surround  themselves 
with  the  things  which  are  suitable  to  their  habits 
and  conversation,  as  well  as  with  the  people  who 
are  most  congenial  to  them.  The  whole  world  about 
them  will  be  in  exact  correspondence  with  their  in- 
ward and  real  natures. 

But  here  we  are  all  more  or  less  under  the  ban  of 
evil.  Very  wicked  men  mingle  in  very  virtuous  so- 
ciety. Men  of  very  depraved  habits  are  frequently 
persons  of  (in  some  respects)  excellent  tastes.  Very 


136  THE  NATURE    OF  HELL. 

worthy  people  are  sometimes  thrown  into  mean  and 
squalid  quarters,  and  those  of  high  spiritual  attain- 
ments are  forced  by  circumstances  into  close  inti- 
macy with  others  of  a  worldly  cast  of  mind. 
.  This  simply  shows  that  on  earth  heaven  and  hell 
are  to  some  extent,  in  their  outward  aspects,  min- 
gled. Faces  are  masks  of  character ;  tongues  con- 
ceal sentiments  instead  of  expressing  them  ;  looks 
belie  the  heart ;  actions  are  hypocritical.  Here, 
because  we  have  these  bodily  masks,  heaven  and  hell 
must  more  or  less  mingle.  Here,  because  we  have 
not  fully  made  up  our  minds  to  go  to  the  bad,  we 
want  to  appear  better  than  we  are.  Here,  because 
we  want  to  be  thought  wise  and  good,  we  seek  to 
appear  so.  Here,  each  one's  own  character  is  mixed, 
and  we  do  not  always  ourselves  know  what  we  are. 
Then  we  must  not  forget  that  a  strong  natural  intel- 
lect is  not  incompatible  with  a  debased  moral  char- 
acter ;  and  that  what  is  mistakenly  called  good  taste, 
when  solely  directed  to  sensuous  things,  may  easily 
be  mistaken  for  real  refinement  which  is  spiritual, 
and  that  it  may  easily  exist  with  a  corrupt  heart. 

Hereafter,  when  disguises  are  stripped  off,  when 
spirits  live  on  spirit  planes  of  life  ;  when  we  know 
ourselves  as  we  really  are  ;  when  faces  cannot  con- 
ceal, and  tongues  cannot  lie,  and  actions  are  in  strict 
accord  with  the  promptings  of  the  heart ;  then  ap- 
pearances will  yield  to  realities.  Then  the  law 
which  is  partially  operative  here,  will  be  fully  so 
there  ;  and  the  outside  hell  will  be  just  what  the 
thoughts  and  loves  of  the  devils  make  it. 

But  this  is  no  punishment  ?    Well,  this  is  not 


FEAR  NEVER  REGENERATES.  137 

where  the  question  of  punishment  comes  in.  It  cer- 
tainly is  not  vengeance.  It  is  plainly  not  vindictive. 
But  is  God  vengeful  ?  Is  He  vindictive  ?  Surely 
not,  except  in  the  outward  and  deceitful  appearance 
of  things.  God  is  mercy  ;  God  is  love.  He  holds  no 
slave-driver's  lash  over  the  wicked  or  unfortunate, 
or  the  already-much-punished  disobedient.  Let  us 
once  and  forever  dismiss  that  from  our  minds. 
There  is  no  punishment  in  the  heart  of  God  ;  though, 
if  you  please,  you  may  call  by  that  name  the  una- 
voidable consequences  of  evil  and  sin. 

Where,  then,  is  the  terror  of  hell,  if  we  cannot 
hold  up  the  fear  of  torment  to  restrain  mankind 
from  rushing  thither  ?  'Ah  !  my  friends,  fear  never 
yet  in  the  world's  history  has  kept  a  single  heart 
from  hell.  Fear  may  say,  uLord,  I  believe  ;  "  fear 
may  make  one  writhe  as  the  preacher  pictures  the 
doom  of  the  damned  ;  fear  may  hold  one  back  from 
the  actual  commission  of  the  outward  sin  ;  but  it 
does  not  regenerate  intellect  or  heart.  Never  in 
this  world  have  eyes  wept  tears  of  genuine  peni- 
tence through  fear ;  never  has  the  breast  swelled 
with  love  for  its  neighbor  through  fear  ;  never  has 
a  single  heart  gone  up  with  rapturous  love  to  the 
Lord,  through  fear  of  his  wrath  or  damnation. 

It  is  your  heart  that  is  your  heaven  ;  not  your 
shattered  nerves.  It  is  your  character  that  sinks 
you  to  hell,  not  the  vengeance  of  the  Deity.  The 
light  is  all  around  us  ;  the  light  of  a  true  and  high 
and  holy  life.  We  can  read  it  in  all  creation  ;  we 
can  see  it  in  all  the  beneficence  of  the  Lord's  love  ; 
we  can  admire  it  in  every  human  impersonation  of 
12* 


138  THE  NATURE  OF  HELL. 

its  beauty  ;  we  can  love  it  in  every  angelic  deed, 
and  every  face  of  angelic  sweetness  ;  we  can  behold 
it  blazing  brightly  in  the  Word  of  God.  The  light 
is  in  the  world ;  but  the  condemnation  is  in  the 
heart's  loving  darkness  because  of  its  love  of  self 
and  sin.  And  the  nature  of  hell  is  in  the  nature  of 
sin  and  its  unavoidable  surroundings.  You  never 
will  be  scared  into  heaven  ;  but  cultivate  the  love 
of  the  heavenly  life,  and  you  will  be  drawn  thither 
by  the  very  life  which  you  have  learned  to  love. 


III. 

THE  DURATION  OF  HELL. 

I  ascend  up  into  heaven,"  says  the  Psalm- 
"thou  art  there;  if  I  make  my  bed  in 
hell,  behold  thou  art  there.  If  I  take  the 
wings  of  the  morning  and  dwell  in  the  uttermost 
parts  of  the  sea  ;  even  there  shall  thy  hand  lead  me, 
and  thy  right  hand  shall  hold  me  "  (Ps.  cxxxix.  8, 
9, 10) : — David's  inspired  answer  to  his  own  inspired 
exclamation,  addressed  to  Jehovah  :  "  Whither  shall 
I  go  from  thy  spirit  ?  or  whither  shall  I  flee  from 
thy  presence  ?  "  It  comes  to  the  consciousness  with 
that  unequivocal  directness  which  we  sometimes 
fkid  in  holy  Writ.  God  is  everywhere.  Be  it  in 
heaven,  on  earth,  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  sea,  or 
in  hell,  wherever  there  is  breath  of  creation,  there 
is  God.  Not  only  cannot  the  creature  who  has 
once  drawn  the  breath  of  life  get  away  from  his 
presence,  but  it  cannot  get  away  from  his  spirit. 
So  runs  the  testimony.  But  God  is  mercy ;  how 
then  can  it  be  otherwise  than  that  his  mercy  is 
wherever  his  presence  and  spirit  are — as  well  in  hell 
as  in  heaven  ?  And  God  is  love  ;  how  then  can  it 
be  otherwise  than  that  his  love  is  wherever  his  pres- 
ence and  spirit  are— exerted  for  the  benefit  of  devils 
as  well  as  of  angels  ?  Yes,  even  in  hell,  his  hand 
shall  lead  his  creatures ;  even  as  devils,  his  right 
hand  shall  hold  them. 

139 


140  THE  DURATION  OF  HELL. 

"All  the  paths  of  the  Lord  are  mercy;"  "His 
mercy  is  everlasting;"  uThe  Lord  is  good  to  all, 
and  his  tender  mercies  are  over  all  his  works."  Of 
this  character  are  the  texts  which  describe  his  nature. 
Love  and  mercy  as  Divine  characteristics,  like  all 
things  Divine,  are  limitless.  They  are  inoperative 
in  no  portion  of  the  realms  of  existence,  either  on 
this  side  the  grave  or  beyond.  And  it  is  true  as  well 
of  the  other  world  as  of  this,  that  "  He  maketh  his 
sun  (his  love)  to  rise  on  the  evil  and  on  the  good, 
and  sendeth  rain  (his  mercy)  on  the  just  and  on  the 
unjust."  And  if  Christ  denounced  the  doctrine, 
"Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  and  hate  thine 
enemy,"  and  asserted  that  other  of  angelic  beauty, 
"Love  your  enemies,  bless  them  that  curse  you,  do 
good  to  them  that  hate  you,"  and  held  up  to  us 
in  the  law  of  sunshine  and  rain,  that  our  heavenly 
Father  does  this,  and  therefore  we  must  do  it  if  we 
would  be  his  children  ;  how  then  can  it  be  otherwise, 
than  that  God  loves  his  enemies  in  hell,  seeks  to 
bless  them  in  spite  of  their  railings  against  Him, 
and  endeavors  to  do  good  to  them  notwithstanding 
their  hatred  of  Him  ?  For  this  is  Christianity,  and 
God  is  the  Divine  embodiment  of  the  Christian 
law. 

The  doctrine  of  Divine  love,  unlimited  even  by 
the  burning  hatred  of  hell  against  Himself,  is  the 
clear  Bible  truth.  The  doctrine  of  Divine  wrath  is 
the  fallacious  appearance  of  truth.  There  are  two 
phases  of  the  Bible — two  standpoints  from  which 
different  portions  are  written — two  aspects  under 
which  it  comes  to  man.  And  if  men  had  recognized 


THE  LORD  APPEARING  ANGRY.          141 

this,  how  many  false  enunciations  of  doctrine  might 
have  been  avoided !  The  one  is  the  language  of 
glorification  descriptive  of  the  higher  states  of  the 
human  soul,  where  the  Lord  shines  forth  clear  and 
cloudless  to  the  mind,  in  all  his  justice,  benignity, 
kindness,  providence,  mercy  and  love.  The  other 
is  the  language  of  the  soul's  prostration,  temptation 
and  despair,  where  the  divine  splendors  of  the  Lord's 
nature  are  hidden  in  the  clouds  of  the  spirit,  in  its 
darkness  and  gloom.  Here,  the  Lord  appears  to  the 
mind  conscious  only  of  its  worthlessness,  guilt  and 
degradation,  as  the  great  avenger  and  punisher,  a 
Being  of  vindictive  fury  and  everlasting  wrath. 
Now  the  one  class  of  passages  describes  the  truth 
as  it  comes  in  its  Divine  radiance  to  the  unclouded 
spiritual  intellect ;  the  other  as  it  appears  to  the 
brutalized  and  obscured  faculties,  or  the  despairing 
conscience.  It  is  meet  that  we  should  have  them 
both  placed  before  us.  There  are  excellent  reasons 
why  the  Divine  Word  should  reveal  the  human  soul 
from  its  highest  possibilities  to  its  lowest  degrada- 
tion. There  is  a  philosophy  in  its  running  the  octaves 
of  all  states  and  conditions  possible  to  man.  But 
there  is  no  propriety  in  substituting  the  God  who 
appears  before  the  soul  in  its  states  of  sensuality 
and  despair,  for  Him  who  shines  forth  in  its  states 
of  rapture  and  glory.  The  Divine  Word  is  written 
according  to  a  plan.  If  we  do  not  see  the  plan,  that 
is  our  misfortune  and  not  the  fault  of  God.  But  at 
least  let  us  cling  to  the  enunciations  which  ennoble 
Him  to  our  thoughts  and  endear  Him  to  our  hearts, 
and  hold  in  abeyance  for  further  light,  those  which 


142  THE  DURATION  OF  HELL. 

are  the  fallacies  of  deep  temptation  or  the  outcries 
of  utter  despair. 

God  is  love  ;  his  mercy  embraces  even  hell.  No 
devil  can  so  revile  Him,  that  He  will  not  give  that 
unfortunate  the  best  blessing  he  is  capable  of  receiv- 
ing ;  no  fiend  can  so  hate  Him  that  He  will  not  do 
his  utmost  to  reach  and  help  him  in  his  fallen  state. 
That  only  is  Christian.  That  only  is  God-like. 

The  subject,  then,  of  the  duration  of  hell— for  that 
is  the  theme  of  this  discourse,  however  we  may  ap- 
parently wander  from  it — is  not  one  that  brings 
God's  love  into  controversy  at  all.  When  this  ques- 
tion arises,  it  is  usually  one  of  this  nature  :  How 
long  will  God's  love  inflict  the  stripes  and  burnings 
which  are  the  allotted  punishment  of  the  wicked  ? 
It  is  a  singular  question  to  ask.  There  is  but  one 
true  answer  :  God's  love  will  not  inflict  them  at  all. 
It  inflicts  them  neither  in  this  world  nor  in  the  next. 
It  inflicts  them  neither  for  one  year  nor  a  myriad  of 
years.  Love,  whether  human  or  Divine,  has  no  re- 
venges to  gratify.  True,  certain  results  follow  from 
the  violation  of  certain  laws— results  that  are  in- 
herent in  the  violations.  And  men  are  punished, 
not  by  the  Lord  but  by  their  violations  of  law — that 
also  is  true. 

That  head-ache  follows  drunkenness,  and  de- 
lirium, continuous  debaucheries  ;  that  sickness  fol- 
lows gluttony,  and  gout,  too  high  wines  and  too  rich 
food  ;  that  consumption  follows  careless  exposures 
or  unremitting  dissipations ;  thus  that  each  violation 
of  the  law  of  health,  has  its  inherent  punishment — 
that  is  true.  That  profanity  blunts  one's  reverence 


EVIL   ITS   OWN  PUNISHMENT.  143 

for  God  ;  that  ribaldry  dulls  the  capacity  of  religious 
enjoyment ;  that  covetousness  destroys  the  principle 
of  neighborly  love  ;  that  adultery  denies  purity  of 
heart  and  shuts  out  heaven ;  that  the  practice  of 
thievery  makes  knaves,  and  that  of  murder,  demons ; 
that  each  violation  of  the  moral  law  hastens  the  deg- 
radation and  ruin  of  the  soul,  makes  the  understand- 
ing averse  to  higher  truth,  and  the  heart  callous  to 
the  influences  of  heaven  and  God ;  thus  that  each 
violation  of  the  law  of  the  Lord  has  its  own  inherent 
punishment — that  also  is  true.  It  comes  in  many 
forms  ;  the  writhing  hatreds  of  the  heart,  the  gnaw- 
ings  of  envy,  the  unsatisfied  desires  of  ambition 
and  avarice,  the  ungratified  passions  of  vanity,  the 
eternal  torments  of  jealousy,  the  lurid  burnings  of 
the  fires  of  revenge,  the  unsatisfactions  of  selfish- 
ness, the  depression  of  spirit  after  the  pursuit  of 
worldly  pleasure — the  thousand  and  one  torments 
which  are  the  never-ending  results  of  evil,  are  pun- 
ishments as  great  as  any  soul  need  bear. 

Say  what  we  will,  no  wicked  man  is  happy  in  his 
crime  ;  no  sinful  man  enjoys  his  sin.  There  is  a  cer- 
tain mad  pleasure,  a  certain  insane,  delirious  delight 
that  exists  in  the  excitement  of  the  moment ;  but 
the  sting  of  the  law's  violation  is  everywhere  and 
always  asserting  its  presence,  and  never  so  strongly 
as  in  the  moments  of  inertia  and  reaction.  It  is  not 
necessarily  in  the  conscience  ;  that  may  be  dead. 
Conscience  does  not  torture  in  hell ;  for  it  is  of  the 
essence  of  hell  that  conscience  has  ceased  to  exist. 
It  is  not  in  rlemorse  ;  remorse  may  be  known  no 
longer.  The  sting  exists  in  the  very  violated  law. 


144  THE  DURATION  OF  HELL. 

I  have  talked  with  some  of  the  most  abandoned  vil- 
lains under  peculiar  circumstances,  and  have  become 
convinced  that  they  do  not  know  what  happiness 
means.  With  them  no  sorrow  for  crime  exists — no 
seeming  pang  of  conscience  for  its  commission.  It 
is  a  condition  of  utter  demoralization  and  reckless- 
ness. The  extreme  case  serves  to  point  the  phil- 
osophy. 

A  man  may  not  be  a  criminal  in  the  eye  of  the 
law,  and  yet  he  may  be  a  devil.  There  are  degrees 
of  evil,  and  grades  of  even  complete  demoralization. 
The  devil  of  the  heart  may  or  may  not  be  utterly 
brutalized — may  or  may  not  be  unlettered  or  unre- 
fined. But  the  pseudo  gentleman  of  incarnate  self- 
ishness, or  the  polished  scholar  of  absolutely  no 
principle,  is  as  much  a  devil  in  his  way  as  the  mid- 
night cut-throat  or  the  highway  ruffian.  They  are 
violators  of  the  laws  under  which  God  created  souls 
to  live.  They  have  lost  the  very  capacity  for  happi- 
ness— as  much  so  as  the  consumptive  body  or  the 
vitiated  blood  has.  by  violations  of  the  physical  law, 
lost  the  essential  conditions  of  health  and  comfort. 
And  as  the  consequences  of  corporeal  disease — the 
low  vitality,  the  sleepless  nights,  the  painful  humors, 
the  nervous  tremors,  the  aches  and  pains — are  the 
inborn  punishments  of  the  transgressions  of  the  laws 
of  the  system,  so  are  the  consequences  of  the  moral 
diseases  of  the  soul,  the  unavoidable  and  inherent 
punishments  for  our  infringement  of  the  laws  of 
eternal  life. 

If  you  say  that  experience  does  not*  so  teach,  you 
are  not  honest  with  yourself.  Do  you  not  see  far 


EVERY  EVIL   SO  MUCH  HELL.  145 

enough  above,  to  know  that  perfect  trust  in  the 
Lord,  for  instance,  or  in  other  words,  perfect  con- 
tentment and  peace  of  soul,  is  the  only  absolute  hap- 
piness ?  On  the  other  hand,  do  you  not  know  that 
the  love  of  admiration  gives  the  soul  unrest  ?  that 
envy  gives  you  sleepless  nights  and  unsatisfied  waking 
hours  ?  that  desire  for  revenge  gnaws  at  the  heart 
with  remorseless  greed  ?  that  there  is  not  an  evil  of 
soul,  nor  a  sin  of  commission,  which  does  not  bring 
its  bitterness  with  it  ?  I  speak  to  you  as  to  those 
who  have  committed  no  great  crimes,  but  are  prone, 
or  have  been,  to  the  less  grievous  evils  of  humanity. 
Every  evil  or  sin,  no  matter  how  light,  is  so  much 
hell  within  ;  and  each  one  has  its  gall — its  punish- 
ment— its  result  as  an  infringement  of  the  moral 
law. 

This  is  the  great  principle.  Then  when  we  go 
into  the  other  life,  how  shall  we  get  rid  of  our  evils? 
— for  they  are  seated  in  the  soul.  Surely  we  carry 
our  hell  with  us  ;  and  its  own  punishments  are  in- 
separable from  its  existence. 

It  has  been  my  constant  purpose  in  previous  dis- 
courses to  press  home  the  truth  that  hell  is  essentially 
evil  in  the  soul ;  that  as  souls,  not  bodies,  go  into 
the  other  life,  each  one  carries  his  own  life  with  him 
whatever  it  is  ;  and  that  the  natural  law  of  repulsion 
between  the  evil  and  the  good,  would  separate  the 
former  into  a  community  which,  as  applied  to  the 
other  world,  is  denominated  hell. 

As  therefore  God  has  no  revenges  to  execute,  but 
as  He  is  all  love  toward  his  enemies,  and  mercy  to- 
ward those  who  hate  and  despitefully  use  Him,  it 
13  K 


146  THE  DURATION   OF  HELL. 

follows  that  even  there  "His  hand  shall  lead  them 
and  his  right  hand  hold  them  ;  "  that  is,  so  far  as  it 
is  possible,  they  retaining  their  inborn  freedom  of 
choice.  Certainly,  then,  He  will  not  scourge  them. 
He  surely  will  not  burn  them.  If  anything  in  Scrip- 
ture seems  to  indicate  that,  it  is  so  utterly  subver- 
sive of  Christian  ethics,  so  entirely  opposed  to  other 
Bible  teaching,  that  those  who  hold  so  must  interpret 
the  Scripture  wrongly.  On  the  contrary  He  will 
mollify  their  misery,  and,  so  far  as  He  can,  will 
quench  the  rising  flame  of  their  evil  lusts.  This 
would  be  an  expression  of  love ;  the  other  would 
not. 

The  nature  of  future  punishment  we  learn  by  our 
experience  here.  It  is  the  burning  flames  of  our 
own  wicked  desires.  These  punish  us  savagely. 
In  this  world,  however,  their  punishment  often  tends 
to  reform. 

Let  me  say  here,  that  there  is  only  one  light  in 
which  we  can  view  this  life  as  compared  with  the 
other.  "We  are  placed  here  to  form  character.  We 
are  born  here  to  determine  in  our  freedom  what  we 
will  be  hereafter.  This  life  is  threescore  and  ten  ; 
the  other  is  eternity.  We  are  like  young  trees  in  a 
nursery,  only  we  grow  as  we  will  to  grow.  If  we 
grow  straight  and  true,  we  are  transplanted  at  last 
into  the  garden  of  the  Lord  ;  if  crooked  and  de- 
formed, we  are  hewn  down  and  cast  into  the  fire — 
the  fire  of  our  own  evil  lusts. 

Now  there  is  a  certain  point  to  which  a  sapling 
may  grow  crooked,  and  yet  by  judicious  training  be 
brought  back  to  a  straight  and  graceful  form.  But 


A   POINT  BEYOND   RECOVERY.  147 

there  is  a  certain  degree  of  crookedness  which  it 
may  attain,  wherein  its  gnarls  and  twists  have  be- 
come so  firmly  set,  so  hard  and  obdurate,  that  no 
ropes  nor  stakes  nor  pulleys  can  straighten  it  out 
again.  It  will  break,  it  will  split,  it  will  die,  but  it 
will  not  straighten.  Its  crookedness  has  become  its 
character,  inherent  and  forever  obdurate. 

The  soul  of  man  is  often  compared  to  a  tree  in  the 
Bible.  And  as  souls  we  are  born  upon  this  plane  of 
life,  as  into  nurseries  of  eternal  character.  None 
of  us  grow  up  precisely  as  we  ought.  We  get  crooked 
here  and  gnarly  there,  and  twisted  in  the  very  parts 
where  we  ought  to  show  most  spiritual  grace.  But 
we  are  freer  than  the  trees.  We  are  our  own  hus- 
bandmen. We  till  our  own  soil ;  we  drive  our  own 
stakes ;  we  prune  and  tie  back  and  straighten  out 
our  own  characters.  The  Lord  gives  us  the  strength, 
but  we  do  the  straightening.  He  gives  us  the  life, 
but  we  appropriate  or  apply  it.  He  gives  the  growth, 
but  we  erect  or  crook  ourselves  under  his  sun  of  love 
and  rain  of  mercy  at  pleasure.  And  up  to  a  certain 
point  we  may  go  wrong,  do  sinful  deeds,  without 
losing  the  power  to  retrieve  our  character.  True, 
each  sin  is  weakening  that  power  ;  and  as  we  yield 
to  our  evils,  it  becomes  harder  and  harder  to  spring 
back  to  the  proper  place  again.  But  there  is  a  point 
at  which  the  heart  becomes  so  gnarled  and  knotted, 
so  twisted  and  bent,  so  old  in  sin,  so  hardened  in 
iniquity,  so  given  to  worldliness,  so  much  in  love 
with  self,  that  neither  the  love  nor  the  mercy  of 
God  can  straighten  us  out  again.  We  might  be 
burned  under  its  ardor,  we  might  be  crushed  by  its 


148  THE  DURATION  OF  HELL. 

pressure,  we  might  have  our  inward  natures  tortured 
into  a  thousand  agonies  or  utterly  annihilated,  but 
we  cannot  straighten.  The  character  is  the  man  ; 
the  quality  is  the  soul.  And  when  the  evil  quality 
or  character  freely  chosen,  has  permeated  each  fibre, 
artery  and  vein  of  the  spirit  organism,  has  become 
indurated  and  permanent,  if  you  wrench  it  out  you 
rend  the  soul  into  infinitesimal  fragments.  For 
when  you  have  taken  out  all  that  constitutes  the 
man,  there  is  no  man  left.  You  can  as  easily  ex- 
tract the  corrosion  from  vitriol,  or  the  poison  from 
arsenic,  and  have  vitriol  and  arsenic  left,  as  take 
the  hell  out  of  a  soul  that  has  confirmed  itself  in  its 
worldliness,  selfishness  and  sin,  and  have  an  angel 
left.  All  nature  asserts  this  principle.  And  grieve 
as  we  may  over  the  fact,  neither  Scripture  nor  reason 
justifies  the  belief  that  the  immortal  soul  is  an  ex- 
ception to  the  otherwise  universally  established  law. 
This  world  is  the  nursery  of  eternal  character,  O 
man,  for  you.  Improve  it  to  your  glory,  or  demoral- 
ize yourself  at  your  peril.  That  is  the  language  ad- 
dressed to  you  by  all  science  and  all  revelation. 
Here  you  stand  in  your  moral  freedom,  the  best  gift 
of  God.  Here  make  your  heaven  or  your  hell  for 
the  great  Hereafter,  whichever  you  may  choose. 

I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  dying  in  some  of  our 
evils,  we  may  not  rid  ourselves  of  them  in  the  other 
world.  I  speak  of  the  final  choice  of  the  heart.  I 
discriminate  between  sins  sorrowed  over  but  not 
yet  fully  conquered,  and  the  sin-indurations  of  the 
thoroughly  calloused  heart.  Personally  considered, 
we  cannot  always  tell  which  is  which.  It  matters 


PUNISHMENT  REFORMATORY.  149 

not  that  we  should.  The  final  choice  of  good  or 
evil,  here  made  in  freedom  deep  down  in  the  heart 
of  hearts,  will  fully  manifest  itself  only  where  all 
disguises  are  stripped  oif  and  souls  are  open  books 
for  all  to  read. 

Then  with  the  irretrievably  crooked  trees  of  hu- 
manity as  they  congregate  beyond  the  grave,  God's 
mercy  and  love  will  dwell  forever,  not  his  wrath  and 
fury.  But  how  ?  By  torturing  them  with  endeavors 
to  straighten  out  that  which  may  break  but  cannot 
bend  ?  By  visiting  them  with  a  conscience  and  re- 
morse which  would  only  torment  but  not  reform  ? 
By  placing  them  under  the  eternal  lash,  or  burning 
them  in  flames  of  everlasting  fire — agonies  of  anguish 
which  would  mete  out  endless  punishment,  but  lead 
to  never  a  moment's  regret  for  that  which  had  be- 
come hardened  into  eternal  character  ? 

No  :  In  one  sense  it  is  true  that  the  advent  of  the 
Lord  has  saved  all  mankind  ;  not  all  indeed  upon 
the  plane  of  heaven  and  Christian  love,  but  all  to 
some  extent  from  the  worst  consequences  of  their 
own  evils.  Thus  the  very  law  of  punishment  is  in 
some  degree  reformatory.  Admit  that  a  soul  has 
passed  beyond  the  possibility  of  internal  reform,  that 
by  no  means  places  him  beyond  the  possibility  of 
external  reform.  For  the  very  overflow  of  evil  pas- 
sion as  it  reverts  upon  itself,  is  made  careful  and 
prudent  in  its  workings.  Then,  again,  the  very  self- 
ishness of  the  soul  will  curb  its  selfishness  for  the 
sake  of  self.  We  see  this  here  ;  why  may  it  not  be 
so  there  ?  We  see  men  of  intelligence,  but  selfish 
and  worldly  to  a  degree,  combine  in  this  world  to 
13* 


150  THE   DURATION   OF  HELL. 

protect  themselves.  Laws  are  often  made  here, 
good  laws,  on  hellish  principles.  That  is,  they  are 
made  not  in  the  desire  to  protect  the  rights  of  the 
neighbor,  and  to  mete  out  justice  to  him,  but  selfishly 
to  protect  one's  self  in  the  enjoyment  of  his  own 
possessions  and  pleasures.  Selfish  men  combine  for 
this  end,  and  are  true  to  one  another  in  this.  They 
have  to  yield  to  each  other  for  the  sake  of  self. 
Thus  good  is  educed  even  from  the  law  of  evil. 

Now  I  cannot  view  the  Lord  in  the  light  of  an 
earthly  monarch,  ruling  hell  by  arbitrary  laws  and 
enforcing  them  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet  or  by  a 
vigilant  police,  using  the  angels  as  the  only  trusty 
agents  for  the  enforcement  of  his  edicts.  I  can- 
not understand  the  eternal  blessedness  of  angels  in 
such  a  role.  But  if  we  do  away  with  the  sulphur 
and  flames,  and  seek  for  subordination  and  order 
even  in  hell,  I  can  understand  eternal  principles, 
the  light  of  God's  love  flowing  through  the  flames 
of  human  passion,  regulating  and  controlling  the 
mighty  hosts  of  evil  through  their  own  selfish  pro- 
pensities, and  educing  final  outward  order  from  the 
selfishness  of  evil  and  the  dissonance  of  sin.  I  can 
see  how  the  eternal  principle  of  love  and  the  ever- 
operating  flow  of  mercy  may  so  control  the.  law  of 
sin,  as  out  of  itself  to  evolve  the  best  results  and  the 
greatest  happiness  to  which  on  the  plane  of  selfish- 
ness man  may  come.  Here,  however,  intelligent 
selfishness  would  have  control.  The  more  outwardly 
refined  would  bring  under  their  sway  the  more  de- 
based. Punishments  would  be  instituted  by  those 
who  had  the  intellectual  force — for  the  intellectual 


ORDER   PRODUCED  BY  FEAR.  151 

always  cows  the  brutal  in  the  end — for  the  protec- 
tion of  themselves.  Fear  would  be  held,  like  the 
slave-driver's  lash,  over  the  insubordinate  ;  the  cer- 
tainty of  punishment  would  bring  them  at  last  to  a 
state  of  subordination,  and  hell  itself  become  re- 
stored to  a  condition  of  outward  order  that  would 
make  it  a  tolerable  place  for  even  devils  to  dwell  in. 
The  sense  of  fear  ingrained,  would  do  for  them  what 
the  sense  of  love  has  failed  to  do.  Thus  hell  would 
be  reduced  to  order.  It  would  become  the  devil's 
heaven ;  but  not  heaven  in  any  divine  or  angelic 
sense.  Hell  would  be  eternal ;  but  not  its  punish- 
ment, except  so  far  as  the  inherent  demoralization 
is  punishment.  Its  evil  would  be  in  the  heart ;  but 
so  far  as  restrained  from  breaking  forth,  the  misery 
would  be  alleviated. 

Take  a  prison  which  holds  a  great  number  of 
wicked,  untamed  men ;  untamed  at  heart,  but  re- 
strained by  fear  of  the  prison  discipline.  There  is 
work  and  play,  study  and  recreation.  Under  fear, 
that  hell  is  reduced  to  a  state  of  order.  There 
is  more  happiness  or  comfort  for  them  than  there 
ever  was  in  the  unrestrained  license  of  crime.  Lib- 
erate them,  and  they  will  run  riot.  Restrain  them 
into  decency,  and  they  have  a  measure  of  enjoyment. 
The  law  of  punishment  has  been  executed  on  each, 
until  he  knows  its  certainty  for  every  violation  of 
the  rules.  He  does  not  offend,  because  that  punish- 
ment is  before  his  eyes.  He  therefore  ceases  to 
offend,  so  long  as  the  fear  is  not  removed.  True, 
therefore,  he  would  rush  into  crime  if  he  dared  ;  but 
he  dare  not.  There  is  a  certain  degree  of  order, 


152 


THE  DURATION   OF  HELL. 


comfort  and  enjoyment ;  not  indeed  that  of  a  heav- 
enly household,  but  far  above  the  grade  of  a  Cal- 
vinistic  hell. 

Something  like  this  would  be  my  picture  of  hell 
restored.  I  believe  that  there  the  law  of  retaliation 
is  inexorably  self-executing;  that,  as  the  conceal- 
ments of  this  world  are  removed,  sin  reacts  upon 
itself  with  swift  judgment  and  becomes  its  own 
avenger.  I  believe  that  the  law  of  selfishness,  left 
to  its  own  operation,  becomes  self-protective  ;  that 
in  a  region  where  hypocrisies  are  of  short  duration 
and  easily  discerned,  it  becomes  inexorably  self-pro- 
tective. I  do  not  affirm  that  the  details  here  out- 
lined for  the  sake  of  illustration,  are  to  be  found  in 
the  Sacred  Scripture,  but  I  believe  that  the  princi- 
ples on  which  they  are  based,  are  the  veritable 
teachings  of  God's  Word.  I  believe  that  hell  will 
be  restored  to  order,  therefore,  by  the  working  of 
these  laws  ;  not,  however,  as  a  heaven  of  angelic 
love,  but  as  a  hell  forever  restrained  and  kept  in 
order  by  fear. 

Let  us  believe,  then,  that  the  love,  of  God  is  .won- 
derfully tender — infinite  and  far  reaching  ;  that 
though  He  makes  the  human  soul  free,  He  saves 
it  on  every  plane  of  life,  so  far  as  He  can  without 
violating  its  freedom.  But  let  us  not  surrender  our 
rationality,  and  think  that  God  can  force  man's 
freedom  to  save  him  even  from  hell.  For  when 
force  comes  in,  freedom  vanishes.  But  let  us  hold 
up  the  banner  of  Divine  Love  on  every  mountain 
top  of  thought ;  affirm  it  as  guiding  in  heaven ; 
assert  it  as  ruling  in  hell.  Let  the  dogma  of  eter- 


GRADES   OF  BLISS  AND    WOE. 

nal  flames  go  down  before  it,  and  the  lake  of  literal 
fire  forever  vanish. 

But  though  we  see  and  know  that  there  are  grades 
of  life  and  happiness  in  the  unending  future,  extend- 
ing from  the  very  steps  of  God's  throne  down  through 
the  descending  scale  of  loves  and  intelligences,  until 
we  reach  the  lowest  depths  of  selfishness  and  fear, 
let  us  believe  that  God  has  laws  which  bind  them 
all  in  the  everlasting  chains  of  his  mercy  and  bring 
them  under  the  ceaseless  action  of  his  love.  Cher- 
ishing this  belief,  while  our  sense  of  the  dreadful 
reality  of  hell  is  deepened,  and  its  restraining  power 
increased  rather  than  diminished,  we  rejoice  to  see 
and  know  that  God  is  infinitely  more  reasonable  and 
human  than  the  old  theologies  have  taught,  and 
some  would  still  have  us  believe. 


IV. 

THE  FIEES  OF  HELL. 

HEKE  is  a  large  class  of  Bible  interpreters, 
who  insist  on  a  strictly  literal  exposition  of 
all  Scripture.  They  will  read  you  a  passage 
of  appalling  import,  and,  with  a  gesture  of  assertion 
which  means  that  from  this  position  there  is  no  ap- 
peal, will  say  :  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord  ;  and  the  pass- 
age means  just  what  it  says  ;  and  if  you  say  any- 
thing else,  your  are  discrediting  God's  holy  Word." 
They  insist  that  literal  interpretation  alone  saves 
the  Scripture  from  profanation.  No  matter  into 
what  strange  paths  it  may  lead  you ;  no  matter 
what  vindictive  sort  of  God  it  may  ask  you  to  wor- 
ship ;  no  matter  what  unreasonable  doctrines  it  may 
require  you  to  believe  :  so  much  the  better  ground 
for  the  exercise  of  faith. 

Interpreters  of  this  class  have  never  learned,  or 
else  they  totally  forget,  the  first  principles  of  Bibli- 
cal criticism — facts  which  are  so  patent,  so  well 
known  and  so  clearly  undeniable  that  he  who  runs 
may  read.  They  forget  that  the  very  essence  of 
the  oriental  styles  of  writing,  is  their  florid  imagery, 
their  poetic  diction,  their  proneness  to  express  ideas 
by  similitude,  allegory  or  parable.  They  forget  that 
one  of  the  chief  characteristics  of  the  oriental  lan- 
guages, lies  in  the  fact,  that  not  only  are  ideas 

154 


FIGURATIVE  STYLE   OF  SCRIPTURE.      155 

adorned  with  highly  figurative  expressions,  but  that 
almost  every  word  has,  not  only  its  literal,  but  also 
its  metaphorical  or  emblematic  meaning.  They  for- 
get that  the  Hebrew  above  all  languages  was  thus 
constituted.  And  they  forget  that  even  the  New 
Testament,  though  written  in  Greek,  was  written  by 
evangelists  who  were  all  Jews  ;  that  Christ  himself 
on  the  human  side,  was  a  Jew,  and  that  in  speaking 
He  spake  to  Jews,  and  to  Jewish  comprehension 
after  the  Jewish  style.  I  set  aside  for  the  present 
the  idea  (though  I  have  not  the  slightest  doubt  of 
its  correctness),  that  the  correspondential  or  sym- 
bolic method  is  the  Divine  style  of  writing,  and 
maintain  that  the  fact  that  the  Old  Testament  was 
written  by  Hebrews  in  Hebrew,  and  the  New  by 
Hebrews  in  Greek,  simply  renders  absurd  the  theory 
that  either  is  to  be  literally  interpreted. 

The  theory  that  the  Bible  throughout  is  to  be  un- 
derstood literally,  so  often  and  so  emphatically  in*- 
sisted  on,  is  scarcely  worthy  of  serious  consideration ; 
so  inconsistent  is  it  with  the  character  of  the  lan- 
guage in  which  it  was  written,  with  the  peculiari- 
ties of  the  Hebrew  mind,  and  so  opposed  to  the  in- 
ternal evidence  of  all  Divine  writing.  And  no  man 
ever  claimed  it  who  was  not  obliged,  almost  in  the 
same  breath,  to  use  a  Biblical  phrase  in  a  metaphor- 
ical sense,  in  order  to  apply  Scripture  in  any  rational 
manner. 

Thus,  because  Jacob  said,  "Joseph  is  a  fruitful 
bough  by  a  well,  whose  branches  run  over  the 
wall,'7*  or  " Kaphthali  is  a  hind  let  loose,"!  who 

*  Gen.  xlix.  22.  f  Gen-  xlix»  21- 


156  THE  FIRES   OF  HELL. 

would  dream  of  claiming  that  Joseph  was  literally 
a  portion  of  a  tree,  or  that  Naphthali  was  veritably 
a  young  deer  ?  Or  because  our  Lord  calls  himself 
the  Good  Shepherd,  and  because  He  commanded 
Peter  to  feed  his  lambs,  who  is  foolish  enough  to 
think  that  Jesus  was  literally  a  keeper  of  sheep 
when  on  earth,  or  that  He  desired  the  disciple  to 
feed  his  followers  with  the  grass  of  the  field.  We 
know  very  well  that  Christ  was  a  shepherd  only  of 
souls  ;  that  his  lambs  were  the  true-hearted  ones 
of  his  church  ;  that  the  food  with  which  they  were  to 
be  fed,  were  the  truths  of  spiritual  life.  In  this  way 
we  can  pass  through  the  Scriptures  verse  by  verse, 
and  see,  if  we  will,  that  it  is  figurative,  and  written 
by  correspondences  and  similitudes  in  all  its  parts. 
From  the  sensuous  or  literal  interpretation  of  the 
Scriptures,  all  the  unreasonable  and  contradictory 
dogmas  of  the  church  have  sprung.  In  their  spirit 
they  are  consistent  throughout.  In  their  letter  they 
are  not,  for  they  were  not  intended  to  be  in  all  re- 
spects literally  interpreted. 

To  illustrate  :  Our  Lord  said,  "He  that  belie veth 
and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved."  *  Now,  are  we  to 
believe,  as  some  would  have  us,  that  all  who  are  not 
plunged  in  water  or  sprinkled  at  the  hands  of  a 
Christian  minister,  are  damned  ?  There  is  a  bap- 
tism of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  of  fire,  as  well  as  a  bap- 
tism of  water.  Now  fire  is  a  symbol  of  the  Lord's 
love.  The  water  baptism  is  simply  a  representative 
of  the  higher  or  spiritual  baptism.  While  it  is  proper, 

*  Mark  xv.  16. 


THE  LETTER  AND    THE  SPIRIT.  157 

therefore,  to  observe  the  outward  form,  do  you  not 
see  that  it  is  not  the  plunging  of  the  body  in  water 
which  effects  salvation,  but  the  immersion  of  the 
soul  in  the  spirit  and  love  of  God  ?  This  makes  us 
truly  his  children.  The  letter  here  gives  us  a  sol- 
emn and  significant  rite  ;  but  the  spirit  of  the  text 
gives  us  a  grand  and  practical  truth. 

Again;  the  Scripture  says,  "The  soul  that  sin- 
neth,  it  shall  die."*  Now,  some  would  have  us 
believe,^in  view  of  this,  that  the  wicked  soul  after 
this  life,  is  annihilated — blotted  forever  out  of  ex- 
istence. They  ignore  the  numerous  passages  of 
Scripture  which  show  what  is  meant  by  the  term 
death  as  applied  to  the  soul.  It  is  not  annihilation, 
but  the  destruction  of  spirituality,  the  higher  and 
heavenly  life  of  the  soul.  Thus  in  the  first  pages 
where  Adam  is  commanded  not  to  eat  of  the  for- 
bidden fruit,  it  is  said,  "  In  the  day  that  thou  eat- 
est  thereof  thou  shalt  surely  die."  Yet  in  fact  he 
was  only  driven  out  of  Eden,  and  according  to  the 
letter  lived  for  centuries  after.  The  letter,  therefore, 
is  not  true.  The  spirit  of  this  Scripture  is,  that 
evil,  self-seeking  sin,  is  the  forbidden  fruit.  Eat- 
ing of  this  produces  moral  though  not  natural  death. 
The  words  therefore  are  true  when  understood  spir- 
itually. The  meaning  of  the  Scripture  term,  death, 
as  applied  to  the  soul,  was  given  by  Paul  to  the 
Romans  when  he  said  to  them,  "  To  be  carnally 
minded  is  death,  "f 

Again  :  Because  it  is  said  that  the  wicked  "  shall 

*  Eze.  xviii.  20.  f  Rom.  viii.  6. 

14 


158  THE  FIRES   OF  HELL. 

go  away  into  everlasting  fire,"  are  we  justified  in  be- 
lieving, as  so  large  a  portion  of  the  Christian  world 
would  have  us,  that  they  are  tormented  forever  in 
the  flames  of  material  fire  ?  Does  not  the  Bible  ex- 
plain itself  when  it  says  that  "wickedness  burneth 
as  a  fire"?  Wickedness  in  the  soul  is  similar  to 
fire  in  the  field.  Figuratively,  it  burns  and  rankles 
there,  and  sends  up  its  lurid  flame  and  blackening 
smoke  like  fire  amid  the  stubble.  There  is  a  cor- 
respondence between  the  two.  The  wickedness  of 
the  soul  is  spiritual  fire,  but  it  is  not  material  flame. 
And  as  the  fire  of  evil  is  kindled  within  us  here,  so, 
unless  we  extinguish  it  by  resisting  and  overcoming 
the  evil,  it  will  burn  forever  in  the  future  state. 
The  Scripture  is  full  of  these  similitudes,  contain- 
ing often  their  own  explanation.  We  are  told  that 
jealousy  u  burneth  like  fire  ;"  that  u  wrath  burn- 
eth like  fire."  All  evils  and  sins  in  their  operation 
upon  the  soul,  are  compared  to  the  burning  of  fire. 
So  we  often  meet  in  the  Bible  with  such  expressions 
as  u  consumed  with  terrors,"  u  consumed  with 
anger,"  u  consumed  because  of  our  iniquities." 
And  these  are  used  not  in  the  future  tense,  as  of 
something  to  happen  hereafter,  but  in  reference  fo 
the  sins  of  the  wicked  as  they  are  here  in  this  world. 
It  is  true  that  our  moral  nature  consumes  away 
through  sin  ;  that  anger  bursts  forth  like  a  flame  ; 
that  envy,  jealousy,  revenge,  mount  up  like  fires 
within  the  soul ;  that  all  evils  rankle  and  burn  with 
an  unholy  flame ;  but  it  is  not  true  that  they  are 
material  fire  ;  not  true  that  they  are  different  in  the 
other  world  from  what  they  are  in  this  ;  not  true  that 


THE  SENSUOUS  INTERPRETATION.        159 

they  are  anything  else  than  comparisons,  similitudes 
or  correspondences,  designed  to  convey  spiritual 
truth  which  material  things  cannot  measure  nor 
express  in  any  other  way  than  through  the  great 
law  of  analogy  or  correspondence.  It  is  also  true 
that  if  a  good  man  were  to  have  his  spiritual  sight 
opened  as  did  the  seer  of  Patmos,  he  might  see,  as 
John  did,  the  hellish  heart-conditions  depicted  in 
correspondential  forms  of  fire  and  smoke  ;  but  it  is 
not  true  that  these  spiritual  representations  would 
consist  of  material  flame,  brimstone  or  smoke. 

It  is  the  spirit  of  the  Scripture  that  we  want.  It 
is  this  that  our  souls  need.  If  we  get  not  this,  we 
get  nothing  true.  It  is  not  true  that  by  seeking  its 
spirit,  we  get  confused  and  wander  away  from  its 
safe  landmarks,  and  pile  up  false  doctrines.  It  is 
from  an  absurd  adherence  to  the  letter  that  every 
false  doctrine  known  to  the  church,  has  had  its 
birth.  It  was  from  that,  that  the  inquisition  tor- 
tured Galileo  for  asserting  that  the  earth  is  round. 
It  was  that  which  induced  Luther  to  make  the 
broad  assertion  that  faith,  no  matter  what  a  man's 
life  might  be,  would  save.  It  was  that  which  led 
the  popes,  as  the  supposed  successors  of  St.  Peter, 
to  assert  the  claim  of  infallibility  and  of  power  to 
open  and  shut  the  gates  of  heaven  to  whomsoever 
they  would.  It  was  this  same  sensuous  and  literal 
method  of  interpretation,  which  gave  birth  to  that 
terrible  exclamation  of  Jonathan  Edwards  addressed 
to  the  unconverted,  "The  God  that  holds  you  over 
the  pit  of  hell,  much  as  one  holds  a  spider  or  some 
loathsome  insect  over  the  fire,  abhors  you." 


160  THE  FIEES  OF  HELL. 

And  yet  the  extreme  literalists  are  very  incon- 
sistent. In  the  case  of  this  doctrine  of  the  eternal 
burnings  of  hell,  it  is  strikingly  manifest.  They 
will  take  a  text  like  this:  "Therefore  every  tree 
which  bringeth  not  forth  good  fruit,  is  hewn  down 
and  cast  into  the  fire."  *  And  they  will  say :  u  Do 
you  not  see  ?  He  is  cast  into  the  fire.  Fire  means 
fire  ;  the  thing  that  we  see  every  day,  that  consumes 
everything  it  touches.  Yes,  it  means  fire  and  noth- 
ing but  fire."  They  will  not  say  that  a  man  who 
goes  to  hell  becomes  a  tree  ;  nor  that  when  he  leaves 
this  world,  he  is  literally  cut  down  by  an  axe  of  steel. 
The  absurdity  of  that  is  too  apparent.  Still  they 
insist  that  the  fire  is  material  flame.  Surely  the  ex- 
pression must  be  all  literal  or  all  figurative.  The 
commonest  consistency  requires  that.  If  a  man  is 
really  burned  by  literal  fire,  then  he  is  a  tree,  and 
is  cut  down  by  an  axe  at  death.  But  if  he  is  only 
a  tree  by  similitude,  and  the  hewing  down  is  figura- 
tive of  his  soul's  falling  into  hellish  degradation 
through  a  false  and  evil  life,  why  then  he  is  only 
burned  by  similitude,  or  cast  into  the  fire  in  a  moral 
or  spiritual  sense.  Is  not  that  plain  ?  Is  it  not 
sound  reasoning  ? 

So  when  it  is  said  that  the  Lord  u  will  gather  his 
wheat  into  the  garner,  but  will  burn  up  the  chaff 
with  unquenchable  fire,"  f  who  pretends  to  believe 
that  the  good  hereafter  become  wheat,  or  that  the 
wicked  become  chaff,  except  figuratively  or  by  cor- 
respondence ?  Yet  the  old  school  interpreters  hold 

*  Matt.  iii.  10.  f  Matt.  iii.  12. 


DIVINE  SYMBOLS.  161 

to  the  unquenchable  fire  as  a  literal  fact.  If  the  un- 
quenchable fire  were  meant  by  our  Lord  to  be  un- 
derstood literally,  then  do  the  good  literally  become 
wheat,  and  the  wicked  chaff ;  and  are  not  the  former 
as  wheat  actually  garnered  into  granaries  ?  But  if 
this  is  not  true — and  all  will  admit  the  idea  to  be 
simply  ludicrous — then  the  unquenchable  fire  signi- 
fies simply  the  fire  of  selfishness,  worldliness,  lust 
and  hate,  which,  becoming  ingrained  in  the  char- 
acter, cannot  be  put  out  even  by  God  without  de- 
stroying the  soul ;  and  hell  for  that  soul  becomes  an 
eternal  fact. 

Take  another  illustration.  It  is  said  by  our  Lord, 
"  If  thy  hand  offend  thee  cut  it  off;  it  is  better  for 
thee  to  enter  into  life  maimed,  than  having  two 
hands  to  go  into  hell,  into  the  fire  that  never  shall 
be  quenched  ;  where  their  worm  dieth  not,  and  the 
fire  is  not  quenched." *  So  with  regard  to  the  foot 
and  the  eye  :  "If  thy  foot  offend,  cut  it  off  and  cast 
it  from  thee  ;  "  "If  thine  eye  offend  thee,  pluck  it 
out."  And  the  same  words  are  emphasized  with 
regard  to  entering  into  hell  with  two  feet  or  two 
eyes,  "where  their  worm  dieth  not,  and  the  fire  is 
not  quenched."  Barely  has  fanaticism  gone  to  the 
absurdity  of  cutting  off  the  hand  or  foot,  or  pluck- 
ing out  the  eye.  The  language  is  recognized  as  that 
of  a  parable,  as  figurative,  except  this  eternal  fire  ! 
This  is  to  be  understood  and  accepted  literally. 

But,  spiritually  interpreted,  this  is  all  very  plain. 
The  hand  is  the  instrument  wherewith  we  work. 

*  Mark  ix.  43,  44. 
14*  L 


162  THE  FIRES  OF  HELL. 

It  therefore  represents  our  works.  The  foot  symbol- 
izes our  walk  in  life.  The  eye  has  reference  to  how 
we  see  things  ;  not  here  naturally,  but  spiritually. 
In  other  words,  it  is  our  understanding  of  life.  How 
do  we  view  purity,  virtue  and  godliness  ?  How  do 
we  view  evil  and  sin,  lust  and  crime  ?  Now  if  our 
works  are  wicked,  let  us  cut  them  off  and  put  them 
away.  If  our  walk  in  life  is  evil,  let  us  do  likewise. 
If  our  understanding  of  the  theory  of  life  is  false 
and  vain,  let  us  pluck  that  out.  Otherwise  the  very 
wickedness  and  demoralization  of  our  souls  make 
hells  of  them — so  cast  us  into  hell.  The  worm  is 
the  symbol  of  the  lowest  and  most  groveling  lusts 
of  the  sensual  nature.  When  once  these  have  the 
mastery,  and  the  soul  is  given  up  to  their  sway, 
there  is  no  end  to  it.  The  worm  of  sensuality  and 
lust  never  dies — not  in  this  world,  not  in  the  next. 
The  fires  of  evil  passion  become  inherent,  are  un- 
quenchable both  in  this  world  and  the  world  to 
come. 

Such  is  the  spirit  of  this  Scripture,  whatever  its 
letter  may  be.  Here  is  another  text ;  and  all  is 
figurative  we  are  told  except  the  worm  and  the  fire. 
Why  these  exceptions  ?  Let  consistency  assert  it- 
self. All  is  figurative,  or  none.  If  the  eye  and  the 
hand  and  the  foot,  then  the  worm  and  the  fire. 

And  so  it  is  with  all  the  texts  of  similar  import. 
There  is  not  one  which  is  not  connected  directly 
with  a  parable,  or  expressed  in  language  that  can 
only  be  understood  in  a  spiritual  or  figurative  man- 
ner. There  is  not  a  single  exception  to  this. 

The  lake  of  fire  and  brimstone  then,  is  not  a  myth, 


"ETERNAL"   AND   "EVERLASTING:'        163 

but  a  symbol  of  hell.  It  is  an  expression  repre- 
sentative of  the  burnings  of  evil  and  lust  within 
the  heart, — representative  of  the  realm  where  are 
gathered  those  who  have  abandoned  themselves 
hopelessly  to  sin.  These  burnings  are  unquench- 
able, but  they  are  not  the  tortures  of  literal  flame. 
There  is  no  indication  in  the  Scripture  that  this  ex- 
pression and  kindred  ones  were  ever  meant  to  be 
understood  literally.  Our  common  sense  is  more 
valuable  in  the  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures,  than 
any  dogma  of  th  e  fathers.  This  is  an  age  when  reason 
asserts  its  authority.  The  antiquity  of  a  superstition 
does  not  make  it  less  a  superstition;  and  the  authority 
of  uninspired  commentators  has  no  binding  force, 
and  cannot  eliminate  the  true  spirit  of  a  sacred 
book,  nor  make  what  is  absurd  reasonable,  nor  cause 
error  to  be  truth. 

There  has  been  prolonged  discussion  over  the  Scrip- 
ture terms  eternal  and  everlasting  as  applied  to  pun- 
ishment. It  is  asserted  by  the  opponents  of  eternal 
punishment,  that  the  Greek  word  aionion  does  not 
mean  eternal,  but  "into  the  ages,"  or,  "for  ages." 
Therefore,  while  disposed  to  admit  the  doctrine  of 
a  future  punishment  of  some  kind,  they  will  not  ad- 
mit that  it  is  endless.  Their  position  seems  to  be 
sound.  The  words  do  not  necessarily  imply  punish- 
ment of  an  eternal  or  everlasting  nature. 

In  previous  lectures  I  have  indicated  the  New- 
Church  view  of  this  question  of  future  punishment. 
There  is  punishment,  if  you  please  so  to  term  it, 
which  is  the  natural  result  of  a  degraded  nature. 
Perhaps  this  may  be  more  properly  termed  the  con- 


164  THE  FIRES   OF  HELL. 

sequence  than  the  punishment  of  sin.  It  is  made 
up  of  the  heart-burnings,  jealousies,  ranklings  of 
the  spirit,  which  are  more  or  less  inseparable  from 
the  existence  of  envies,  revenges,  lusts,  evils  of  all 
kinds  in  the  heart.  These  are  the  fires  which  can- 
not be  quenched.  They  flame  up  with  more  or  less 
activity  as  they  are  more  or  less  indulged.  They 
sometimes  smoulder,  but  they  never  die.  Hell,  or 
any  of  its  societies,  or  any  single  heart-hell,  may  be 
likened  to  Vesuvius,  whose  fires  are  always  alive  in 
its  bosom,  but  become  rampant  only  when  there  is 
an  eruption. 

Then  there  is  what  we  more  commonly  call  pun- 
ishment, which  would  be  meted  out  in  hell,  to  pre- 
vent the  utter  anarchy  and  destruction  of  all  its 
spirits,  by  the  unbridled  license  of  evil  acts  on  the 
part  of  its  hosts.  That  open  crimes  which  lead  to 
anarchy  would  be  repressed  there  by  swift  and  cer- 
tain punishments,  which  would  in  the  course  of  ages 
subdue  them  under  the  rod  of  fear,  there  can  be  no 
doubt.  These  punishments  would  continue  only  ac- 
cording to  the  necessities  of  the  case,  and  for  pur- 
poses of  outward  reform.  They  would  be  simply 
reformatory.  Their  purpose  would  be  to  repress  by 
fear  the  breakings  out  of  the  smothered  fires  into 
volcanoes  of  crime.  They  would  cease  when  the 
necessity  ceased,  and  be  repeated  when  criminal 
conduct  demanded  it.  There  must  be  order  even  in 
hell.  No  state  of  society  in  this  world  or  the  other, 
can  exist  in  perpetual  anarchy.  But  the  task-mas- 
ters of  hellish  societies,  by  the  swift  and  sure  inflic- 
tion of  these  punishments,  would  in  the  end  bring 


DURATION  OF  HELL.  165 

individuals  into  a  state  where  eruptions  of  crime 
would  be  few  and  far  between — would  almost  cease. 
While  therefore  the  fires  would  be  unquenchable,  the 
punishments  would  be  only  into  the  ages.  While 
the  smouldering  coals  of  hellish  lusts  would  keep 
alive  forever,  the  punishments  would  be  temporary. 

This,  too,  is  according  to  Scripture ;  for  the  fire 
of  hell  is  often  pronounced  unquenchable,  while  the 
punishment  of  hell  is  indicated  by  a  term  that  does 
not  necessarily  signify  endless.  Hell  and  its  tor- 
ment are,  therefore,  separable.  Hell  is  eternal,  but 
its  torment  only  for  the  time.  Evil  can  never  be- 
come good,  but  fear  may  lash  it  into  decent  behavior. 
Hell  can  never  become  heaven,  but  it  may,  through 
fear  of  punishment,  cease  to  wage  constant  war 
upon  its  neighbor.  It  can  be  done  so  here  ;  it  will 
be  done  so  hereafter. 

To  sum  up  the  whole  question  under  discussion  : 
God  is  all  love  and  mercy.  He  is  never  actuated  by 
hate  or  revenge.  He  makes  man  morally  free,  and 
holds  up  before  him  the  truth  that  obedience  to  the 
laws  of  good  brings  happiness,  and  that  disobedience 
brings  woe.  Man  was  made  morally  free,  because 
virtue  is  not  virtue  where  one  is  forced  to  practice 
it,  but  is  only  virtue  when  freely  chosen.  Therefore 
virtue  is  life  and  heaven  in  the  heart,  and  vice  is 
death  and  hell  there.  Ingrained  virtue  brings  us 
with  the  angels  in  heaven  hereafter,  and  ingrained 
vice  with  the  devils  in  hell ;  and  this  because  heaven 
and  hell,  angels  and  devils,  separate  hereafter  by 
the  law  of  mutual  repulsion.  Whoever  goes  to 
heaven  or  hell  goes  there  from  choice.  Hell  is 


166  THE  FIRES   OF  HELL. 

eternal,  because  it  is  the  ingrained  character  of 
the  soul.  Its  flames  are  unquenchable,  because  evil 
is  its  own  fire.  But  punishment  in  the  common  ac- 
ceptation of  the  term,  is  temporary,  because  it  is 
only  for  the  repression  of  anarchy.  Hell  will  never 
cease  to  be  hell,  but  will  ultimately  be  brought  into 
order  under  the  law  or  influence  of  fear. 

If  man  does  not  become  an  angel,  it  is  his  fault, 
not  God's.  The  words  of  the  Lord  when  on  earth 
are  applicable  to  all  times  and  places :  "  O  Jerusa- 
lem, Jerusalem,  thou  that  killest  the  prophets,  and 
stonest  them  that  are  sent  unto  thee  I  How  often 
would  I  have  gathered  thy  children  together,  even 
as  a  hen  gathereth  her  chickens  under  her  wings, 
and  ye  would  not."  *  The  Lord  would  have  us  all 
under  his  wings  ;  but  we  will  not. 

Let  us  never  forget  that  hell  as  well  as  heaven  is 
within — a  thing  of  the  heart.  If  we  are  to  be  saved, 
it  is  not  from  literal  burnings  and  brimstone  and  fire, 
but  from  our  own  selfishness,  worldliness  and  evil 
lusts.  God  is  ever  ready  to  save.  To  this  end  his 
providence  is  around  us  always  and  everywhere. 
But  a  portion  of  this  work  is  ours.  We  must  co- 
operate with  the  Lord.  He  gives  us  the  freedom  ; 
we  make  the  choice.  He  gives  us  the  law  ;  we  yield 
or  refuse  obedience.  He  gives  us  the  power  ;  we 
appropriate  or  apply  it.  He  gives  us  the  weapons  ; 
we  throw  the  spear.  He  gives  us  the  armor ;  we 
put  it  on — if  we  will.  Heaven  and  hell  are  before 
us  ;  which  will  we  choose  ? 


THE  WORLD  OF  SPIRITS. 


167 


THE  WOELD  OF  SPIRITS. 


PEOPOSE  in  this  lecture  to  consider  the 
question  of  the  soul's  preparation  for  its  final 
home  in  heaven  or  hell,  so  far  as  that  may  be 
effected  after  death. 

If  the  position  taken  in  previous  lectures  be  true, 
that  the  soul,  though  spiritual  in  its  nature,  is  a 
highly  and  delicately  organized  being;  that  it  is 
human  on  the  spiritual  plane  of  life  both  in  struct- 
ure and  form ;  that  it  is  the  real  man  here  which 
does  the  thinking,  willing,  loving,  feeling,  hearing 
and  seeing,  while  the  body  is  only  the  machine 
through  which  these  things  are  done ;  if  it  is  true 
that  our  peculiar  loves,  affections,  tastes,  habits, 
principles  of  life,  modes  of  thinking  and  of  viewing 
things  are  what  make  up  the  soul,  the  very  stuff,  so 
to  speak,  of  which  it  is  formed ;  if  it  is  true  that 
when  the  soul  goes  at  death  into  the  other  world,  it 
carries  its  own  character  and  qualit}''  with  it,  just  as 
when  you  export  a  rose-tree  to  Europe,  it  is  the 
same  rose,  with  the  same  color,  odor,  conformation 
of  leaf,  and  other  characteristics  ;  if  these*things,  I 
say,  are  true,  then  it  follows  that  the  mass  of  peo- 
ple when  they  die  enter  upon  the  spiritual  plane  of 
life  with  mixed  and  diverse  characters. 

15  169 


170  THE    WORLD    OF  SPIRITS. 

Heaven  is  a  state  of  perfect  love  to  the  Lord  and 
the  neighbor.  Hell  is  a  state  of  consummate  selfish- 
ness. Heaven  is  a  state  of  purity  of  heart ;  hell  a 
state  of  spiritual  defilement.  Heaven  has  banished 
all  taint  of  evil  from  its  presence  ;  hell  has  lost  all 
knowledge  of  the  good,  the  angelic  and  the  God- 
like. Now,  take  an  audience  like  this  before  me. 
"Which  of  you  feels  that,  were  you  to  die  to-night 
and  so  pass  from  the  plane  of  earth-life  into  the 
other  world,  you  are  prepared  to  enter  at  once  on 
the  life  of  heaven  ?  Which  of  you  has  cultivated  to 
its  full  extent  that  sense  of  entire  dependence  on  the 
Lord,  that  unwavering  trust  in  his  providence,  that 
total  reliance  on  his  love,  that  utter  peace,  and  rest, 
and  love,  and  purity  that  makes  you  a  perfect  angel 
fitted  for  the  joys  of  the  blessed  ?  Are  there  no 
traces  of  earthly  impurity  still  clinging  to  your 
souls  ?— no  disquietudes,  no  passions,  no  selfish- 
ness, no  little  sins,  which  are  incompatible  with  the 
peace,  purity  and  innocence  of  heaven  ? 

Or,  look  again  among  your  friends,  neighbors  and 
companions.  How  many  characters  of  unmixed 
heavenly-mindedness  can  you  count  within  the 
compass  of  your  recollection  ?  How  many  can  you 
number  within  the  present  circle  of  your  acquaint- 
ance ?  You  see  men  and  women,  good,  no  doubt, 
in  their  way,  yet  with  some  faults,  failings  and 
moral  weaknesses.  We  all  have  our  good  points  ; 
but  who  <5f  us  is  entirely  clean  in  the  sight  of  God 
and  his  angels  ?  We  are  not  prepared — our  friends 
and  neighbors  are  not  prepared— to  claim  the  merit 
of  having  come  up  to  that  standard  which  Jesus 


\  CHANGE   OF  STATE  GRADUAL.  171 

Christ  set  up:  "Be  ye  therefore  perfect,  even  as 
your  Father  which  is  in  heaven  is  perfect."  Men 
cannot  leave  this  world  as  they  are — not  one  in  a 
thousand — and  enter  at  once  upon  the  glorious  life 
*  of  that  realm  concerning  which  the  Word  of  God 
says  :  "  There  shall  in  nowise  enter  into  it  anything 
that  defileth,  neither  whatsoever  worketh  abomina- 
tion, or  maketh  a  lie." 

We  know  this.  And  we  know  that  the  soul  cannot 
be  suddenly  changed  from  evil  to  good,  from  defile- 
ment to  purity,  from  wrong  thinking  to  right  think- 
ing, from  wrong  habit  to  right  habit — all  of  which 
changes  are  necessary  to  an  entrance  into  heaven, 
in  a  moment,  a  day  or  a  month. 

All  creation  is  a  matter  of  growth  ;  the  moral 
creation  of  the  soul  as  well  as  the  material  growth 
of  a  tree  ;  the  spiritual  formation  of  heaven  within 
us,  as  well  as  the  physical  development  of  the  body 
from  infancy  to  manhood,  or  the  intellectual  develop- 
ment of  the  mind  from  the  pretty  foolishness  of  the 
babe  to  the  high  wisdom  of  the  sage.  Even  if  you 
are  converted,  or  have  turned  from  self  and  the 
world  to  the  Lord,  still  it  requires  a  protracted  com- 
bat, unceasing  vigilance,  and  much  time,  to  grow 
into  the  love  and  habitual  practice  of  all  the  virtues 
which  the  Lord  commands.  It  is  one  thing  to  say 
you  are  converted  and  regenerated,  and  quite  an- 
other thing  to  have  every  desire,  thought  and  deed, 
in  the  every-day  business  of  life  as  well  as  in  the 
worship  of  the  sanctuary,  thoroughly  saturated  with 
the  spirit  of  God. 

This  is  also  the  plain  teaching  of  Christ.    The 


172  THE    WORLD    OF  SPIRITS. 

perfect  heavenly  spirit— that  perfection  of  regenera- 
tion which  alone  fits  you  for  a  life  in  heaven,  is  a 
matter  of  slow  and  gradual  development.  The  Lord 
compares  it  to  the  growth  of  vegetation.  He  says 
that  the  kingdom  of  God  is  "  as  if  a  man  should  cast 
seed  into  the  ground,  and  should  sleep  and  rise  night 
and  day,  and  the  seed  should  spring  and  grow  up."  * 
He  says  that  the  growth  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
in  the  mind,  is  like  that  of  grain,  "first  the  blade, 
then  the  ear,  after  that  the  full  corn  in  the  ear."  f 
But  He  adds  that  the  sickle  is  not  put  in,  that  souls 
are  not  gathered  by  the  angels  unto  themselves  in 
the  great  harvest-day,  until  the  fruit  is  fully  ripe. 
He  says  also  that  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  "  a 
grain  of  mustard-seed,  which  a  man  took  and  cast 
into  his  garden  ;  and  it  grew  and  waxed  a  great 
tree."t  These  teachings  are  intended  to  show  us 
that  the  graces  and  beauties  and  goodness  of  heaven, 
grow  in  us  by  slow  degrees,  and  never  become  ours 
instantaneously  or  suddenly.  Like  the  trees  they 
advance  gradually  day  by  day.  I  know  that  the 
church  of  to-day  does  not  always  teach  this  ;  but  it 
is  clearly  the  teaching  of  the  Divine  Master. 

So  we  do  not,  even  the  best  of  us,  leave  this  world 
quite  angelic  in  purpose,  thought  and  act.  Good 
and  evil  are  mixed  within  us,  and  we  are  not  fully 
prepared  for  the  heavenly  realms.  These  weak- 
nesses and  failings  and  impurities  must  all  be  eradi- 
cated, and  their  opposites  obtained  as  fixed  charac- 
teristics of  the  soul,  before  that  consummation  is 
reached. 

*  Mark  iv.  26, 27.          f  Mark  iv.  28.          J  Luke  xiii.  19. 


PROCESS   OF  JUDGMENT.  173 

Either,  therefore,  none  of  us  will  reach  heaven, 
or  there  is  a  preparatory  place  hereafter.  Either 
condemnation  awaits  almost  the  entire  human  race, 
or  else  a  work  that  is  begun  here  is  finished  there. 
The  conclusion  is  irresistible.  Men  do  not  go  di- 
rectly to  heaven  after  death.  There  is  a  prep- 
aration state  in  the  world  beyond.  If  the  work 
has  been  begun  here — the  work  of  soul  purification 
— no  matter  whether  you  are  Christian  or  heathen, 
no  matter  what  sect  you  belong  to,  or  whether  you 
belong  to  any,  if  you  have  committed  yourself  to 
the  earnest  work  of  the  soul's  purification  here,  the 
work  can  be  finished  there,  which  will  at  last  prepare 
you  for  heaven.  It  is  not  a  question  of  belief,  doc- 
trine or  creed,  it  is  a  question  of  a  fixed  desire  and 
earnest  striving  for  the  heavenly  life. 

Has  one  been  born  in  heathen  lands,  and  never 
heard  the  name  of  Christ  ?  or  if  he  has  heard  it, 
been  educated  to  scorn  it  ?  Or  born  in  Christian 
lands,  has  he  been  surrounded  by  influences  which 
have  held  him  down  ?  or  has  he  inherited  traits  or 
taints  which  have  separated  him  from  the  influences 
of  the  wise  and  good  ?  Beyond  the  grave  there  is 
a  place  for  education  and  enlightenment,  for  disci- 
pline and  training,  for  reformatory  correction,  for  ele- 
vation and  purification,  under  circumstances  which 
earth  does  not  afford. 

Or  take  those  who  are  wicked  at  heart,  selfish  to 
the  core,  worldly  beyond  hope,  sensual  and  corporeal 
beyond  reclamation.  Some  perhaps  sink  down  so 
low  before  they  leave  this  world,  that  they  are  about 
ready  to  go  with  their  own  at  once.  But  what  multi- 
15* 


174  THE    WORLD    OF  SPIRITS. 

tudes  of  ingrained  selfish  men  would  scout  the  idea 
of  their  belonging  to  the  company  of  the  lost !  Out- 
side of  the  churches  they  are  moral  men,  who  act 
within  the  law,  but  from  utterly  selfish  principles. 
They  do  not  steal ;  but  it  is  from  fear  of  fine  and 
imprisonment.  They  do  not  commit  burglaries  or 
assaults ;  but  it  is  from  cowardice  not  principle. 
They  do  not  murder ;  but  it  is  because  they  fear  the 
gallows.  They  gain  the  good  opinion  of  their  fel- 
low-men ;  but  it  is  from  love  of  worldly  reputation, 
not  from  love  of  right.  Or  inside  of  the  churches 
they  read  their  Bibles  and  pray  ;  but  their  hearts 
are  as  hard  as  the  stones  of  the  street.  They  are 
regular  church  attendants,  but  they  can  lie  and 
cunningly  defraud  as  well  as  other  men.  They  can 
talk  religion  and  wear  long  faces,  but  they  hold  prac- 
tical virtue  in  light  esteem,  and  practical  sin  they 
believe  in  if  hidden  from  the  world's  eye.  They 
believe  in  themselves,  and  would  claim  the  highest 
seats  at  the  marriage  supper  when  launched  into 
the  other  world,  utterly  ignorant  of  the  fact  that 
their  souls  are  not  clothed  in  the  wedding  garment 
of  right  principle  or  heavenly  character. 

Now,  as  remarked  on  a  previous  occasion,  men  go 
to  heaven  or  hell  of  their  own  free  choice.  Such 
souls  as  these  thoroughly  believe  in  themselves  and 
their  own  merits.  They  must  learn  their  own  hearts, 
It  is  slow  work.  They  must  be  revealed  to  them- 
selves. They  must  be  placed  in  situations  and  un- 
der circumstances  where  the  exterior  coverings  of 
character  will,  one  by  one,  be  torn  off,  and  they  be 
brought  into  their  own  selves — their  inmost  char- 


MEN   GO    TO  HELL    VOLUNTARILY.        175 

acter.  If  they  have  thought  that  they  believed  in 
God,  they  must  learn  that  their  belief  was  all  a  sham. 
If  they  supposed  that  they  accepted  the  spiritual 
truths  of  religion,  they  must  be  convinced  that  it 
was  mere  fallacy.  If  they  pursued  a  life  of  piety, 
they  must  be  led  to  see  that  they  lived  a  lie.  For 
evil  does  not  believe  in  God,  however  much  it  may 
profess ;  sin  does  not  believe  in  religion,  however 
sanctimoniously  it  may  pray.  And  the  inherently 
dead  soul  may  for  the  sake  of  a  reputation,  deceive 
even  itself  as  to  its  motives  in  professing  faith  and 
piety. 

Thus  a  preparatory  state  for  even  hell  is  needed. 
For  men  must  go  there  voluntarily,  and  not  be  pushed 
in  against  their  will  by  an  almighty  fiat.  God  is  in 
all  things  just.  He  has  given  the  liberty  of  heart- 
choice  to  every  soul  that  was  ever  born.  He  will 
place  them  in  situations  where  they  may  see  for 
themselves ;  but  He  will  never  force  any  one  into 
heaven  or  hell. 

The  constitution  of  the  human  mind  is  such,  that 
a  preparatory  state  beyond  this  life  is  a  necessity. 
If  we  do  not  accept  this  view,  we  are  forced  into 
gross  absurdities.  On  the  one  hand,  we  must  either 
believe  that  the  soul  goes  into  heaven  smirched  with 
the  defilements  of  impurity,  or  that  the  Lord  does 
what  all  his  works  and  declarations  and  all  human 
experience  deny, — turns  the  evil  of  the  heart  into 
heavenly  purity  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  and  this 
without  the  man's  own  co-operation.  On  the  other 
hand,  we  must  either  believe  that  the  soul  is  sent  to 
hell  a  firm  believer  (in  its  own  estimation)  in  God, 


176  THE    WORLD    OF  SPIRITS. 

his  salvation  and  all  true  religion,  and  in  himself  as 
a  child  of  God,  or  else  that  in  the  twinkling  of  an 
eye  the  Lord  wrenches  all  these  things  out  of  the 
man  without  his  co-operation,  and  remands  him  to 
eternal  torments.  In  either  case  man's  volition,  his 
freedom  of  choice,  is  entirely  lost  sight  of.  The  very 
principle  above  all  others  which  makes  him  a  man, 
we  deprive  him  of.  This  we  hdid  to  be  simply  ab- 
surd ;  and  we  assert  that  the  very  principles  of  hu- 
man existence,  of  salvation  and  of  spiritual  death, 
which  the  Bible  unequivocally  lays  down  and  Christ 
plainly  teaches,  absolutely  demand  for  their  con- 
sistent interpretation  a  state  of  preparation  in  the 
other  life. 

I  say  a  state  of  preparation.  There  are  three 
general  states  of  life  thus  shadowed  forth.  This 
world  is  the  place  where  soul-character  is  formed. 
Here  the  choice  is  made.  You  may  not  see  it,  nor 
I,  for  we  cannot  read  hearts.  Yet  it  is  made  here  ; 
and  we  may  well  believe  that  none  leave  this  world 
until  that  point  is  settled.  What  is  the  inmost  re- 
solve of  the  soul,  fixed,  permanent  and  decisive  ? 
That  is  the  question.  Not,  do  evils — even  very  gross 
ones— still  cling  to  it  ?  Not,  do  falsities  of  religious 
belief— even  very  gross  ones— still  assert  their  sway  ? 
Not,  do  hypocritical  appearances  or  mere  worldly 
refinements  lie  to  the  world  concerning  the  inner 
man  ? — but  what,  in  the  heart's  inmost  secret  place, 
known  perhaps  to  God  alone,  is  the  decisive  love  of 
the  soul  ?  Has  it  declared  for  good  or  for  evil  ?  for 
God  or  for  self  ? 

This  is  the  question  that  is  answered  in  the  World 


SOME  SCRIPTURE    TESTIMONY.  Ill 

of  Spirits  which  all  enter  when  they  leave  this. 
This  is  what  is  settled  on  that  grand  preparation 
plane  of  future  life.  Here,  character  is  formed  and 
determined.  There,  each  one's  ruling  love  is  fully 
developed  and  disclosed.  Appearances  are  grad- 
ually, one  after  another,  stripped  off.  We  find  out 
what  we  are.  Have  we  chosen  good  and  God?  Then 
the  defilements  that  cling  to  us  will  be  removed. 
As  fast  as  they  appear — as  appear  they  all  must 
— the  chastening  and  chastising  must  go  on  until 
they  shall  have  been  forever  subdued ;  and  the 
soul  that  seeks  the  good,  will  kiss  the  rod  that  re- 
minds it  of  its  work.  Have  we  chosen  evil  and  self  ? 
Then  we  enter  into  the  inner  life  and  belief  of  the 
heart  ;  and  when  we  see  and  know  ourselves,  we  go 
where  we  belong,  and  with  those  with  whom  alone 
we  can  agree  and  live. 

This  place  or  state  is  clearly  shadowed  forth  in 
Scripture,  though  in  the  English  version  it  does  not 
so  distinctly  appear.  It  is  the  Hades,  the  first  place 
of  departed  souls  so  often  mentioned  in  the  Bible, 
but  in  our  English  version  sometimes  rendered  hell, 
and  sometimes  the  grave.  It  is  also  referred  to  (aa 
are  often  hell  and  heaven)  by  figurative  expressions, 
It  is  referred  to  in  Isaiah  and  inEzekiel  as  the  "  lower 
parts  of  the  earth,"  but  in  terms  which  unmistak- 
ably show  that  the  expression  refers  to  a  state  of 
life  beyond  the  grave.*  It  is  the  place  under  the 
altar,  that  is,  under  heaven,  described  in  the  Beve^ 

*  See  Swedenborg's  Arcana  Coeleatia,  n.  7090 ;  Is.  xliv.  23  5 
Ez.  xxvi.  20  j  xxxi.  14-16. 

M 


178  THE    WORLD    OF  SPIRITS. 

lation,  where  certain  souls  were  held  for  a  season 
until  their  time  should  be  fulfilled.*  It  is  referred 
to  by  many  symbols  and  correspondential  expres- 
sions, which  admit  of  no  rational  interpretation  ex- 
cept on  this  theory.  For  where  souls  are  spoken  of, 
as  in  the  other  life,  yet  as  not  having  reached  their 
final  place,  where  can  they  be  but  in  a  middle  or 
intermediate  state  V  And  why  would  they  be  kept 
there,  unless  in  preparation  for  their  final  destiny  ? 
"Why  would  they  be  spoken  of  as  in  tribulation — 
though  white  robes  were  finally  given  them  and  a 
promise  of  deliverance — unless  they  were  passing 
through  a  cleansing  process  by  means  of  which  they 
were  finally  to  receive  the  wedding  garment  of  right- 
eousness and  be  elevated  into  heaven  ? 

There  is  far  more  foundation  in  Scripture  for  the 
Roman  Catholic  doctrine  of  purgatory  than  Protest- 
ants are  willing  to  admit,  if  we  but  divest  it  of  the 
errors  and  superstitions  which  have  been  added  to 
it,  and  which  find  no  favor  in  the  written  Word. 

I  repeat,  then,  that  there  are  in  general  three 
planes  of  life  through  which  all  mortals  pass.  This 
earth-life  which  forms  the  character  ;  the  world  of 
spirits  hereafter,  where  the  inmost  of  the  character 
already  formed  is  fully  developed,  and  the  spirit  is 
fully  prepared  for  heaven,  or  divested  of  its  external 
morality  or  holiness,  and  fitted  thus  for  the  life  of 
hell ;  and,  finally,  the  state  of  full  fruition,  or  the 
life  which  is  forever  lived  in  one  or  the  other  of  these 
abodes. 

*  See  Rev.  vi.  9,-  vii.  1 ;  x.  5 ;  xiii.  11,  etc. 


MEN'S  INTERNALS  REVEALED.  179 

Thus  we  find  the  meaning  of  the  words  :  u  There 
is  nothing  covered  that  shall  not  be  revealed,  nor 
hid  that  shall  not  be  known."  Our  Lord  was  here 
speaking  of  characters  and  motives.  He  could  not 
have  meant  them  as  applicable  to  this  world,  for 
in  this  world  it  is  not  so.  We  do  not  know  each 
other's  hidden  sentiments  or  motives.  We  know 
comparatively  little  of  each  other.  We  are  enigmas 
even  to  ourselves.  They  could  not  apply  to  heaven, 
for  heaven  is  not  a  place  where  angels  are  horrified 
with  the  emptyings  of  evil  hearts  in  blasphemies, 
impurities,  and  defilements  of  every  kind.  They 
could  not  apply  to  hell,  for  those  who  are  striving 
for  the  better  way  would  not  go  down  among  the 
wicked  in  order  to  fit  themselves  for  godliness,  any 
more  than  one  of  you  would  seek  the  Five-Points 
of  New  York  in  order  to  gain  heavenly-mindedness. 
It  is  in  the  preparatory  world  where  the  spirit-man 
is  gradually  stripped  of  all  sophistries  and  conceal- 
ments, and  stands  forth  as  he  is.  It  is  there  that 
all  the  heart's  secrets  are  revealed,  and  all  the  soul's 
motives  known. 

The  great  doctrine  of  "Know  thyself"  is  here 
brought  into  full  play.  When  one  knows  himself 
he  takes  his  position,  not  before  ;  for  till  then  he 
does  not  know  where  he  belongs.  If  he  has  evils 
and  sees  them,  he  can  then  put  them  away  ;  but  not 
until  he  sees  them.  At  first  we  would  be  brought 
face  to  face  with  our  more  external  evils  ;  then  with 
those  of  the  thought ;  then  with  those  of  inward 
motive — these  one  after  another.  For  it  is  the  ruling 
love  that  makes  the  man,  and  not  the  mere  act.  It 


180  THE    WORLD   OF  SPIRITS. 

is  not  so  much  what  we  do,  as  why  we  do  it,  that 
determines  the  real  character.  Here  everybody  sees 
what  we  do,  and  judges  us  by  that.  Sometimes  they 
judge  right  and  sometimes  wrong.  There  they  read 
the  inward  motive,  and  we  at  last  come  to  read  it 
also  in  ourselves.  There  is  no  misjudging  there. 
Then  we  come  to  see  what  we  have  to  put  away, 
what  to  create  anew  within  us.  Then  we  may  do 
this  ;  but  until  we  do,  we  cannot  sit  with  the  angels 
as  their  companions  and  peers. 

I  am  aware  of  the  unsatisfactory  nature  of  this 
brief  treatment  of  so  great  a  theme.  I  am  aware 
that  a  hundred  questions  pertinent  to  the  issue  may 
arise,  which  here  remain  unanswered.  But  you  will 
find  them  fully  and  satisfactorily  answered  by  Swe- 
denborg  ;  yes,  and  all  other  subjects  concerning  the 
future  life,  handled  by  him  in  a  conclusive  and  ex- 
haustive manner.*  To  his  works  therefore  I  invite 
your  attention,  provided  you  go  to  them  not  from 
mere  idle  curiosity,  but  because  you  really  thirst  for 
truth.  If  it  is  only  for  curiosity,  you  will  have 
neither  the  patience  nor  the  spirit  for  their  candid 
perusal ;  for  the  wonderful  truths  of  the  spiritual 
realm  are  not  to  be  appreciated  or  grasped,  if  read 
as  one  would  devour  the  last  new  novel,  or  drink  in 
the  narrative  of  the  latest  sensation  in  the  morning 
papers.  If,  however,  you  are  seeking  truth  for  its 
own  sake,  and  have  the  patience  to  ponder  and  the 

*  See  Vols.  I.  and  II.  of  the  "  Swedenborg  Library,"  which 
contain  the  substance  of  the  author's  Pneumatology. 


MEASURE   OF  RESPONSIBILITY.  181 

eagerness  to  examine,  and  a  desire  to  live  the  truth, 
which  all  ought  to  have,  then  you  may  drink  at  this 
fountain  and  find  it  living  water,  clear  to  the  com- 
prehension, well  proven  to  the  intellect  and  satisfy- 
ing to  the  heart. 

One  last  thought :  Does  this  view  of  a  preparatory 
state  make  it  a  matter  of  indifference  how  far  we 
purify  the  soul  here  ?  By  no  means.  Beware,  lest 
through  indifference  you  form  your  character  for 
hell.  The  more  truth  you  know,  the  less  may  you 
dare  to  dally  with  the  life  of  evil.  He  who  sins 
through  ignorance,  sins  only  in  a  light  degree.  But 
he  who  sins  in  full  view  of  the  consequences,  and  of 
the  Lord's  plan  for  our  redemption,  madly  defies 
God  and  plays  with  the  thunderbolts  of  hell.  He  is 
like  the  man  who  should  cry,  "  See  how  closely  I 
can  leap  to  the  verge  of  the  infernal  precipice,  and 
not  fall  in  I  " 

Prevention  is  infinitely  better  than  any  chances  of 
cure.  The  life  of  heaven  may  be  so  nearly  lived  on 
earth,  that  it  is  but  a  step  from  this  world  to  u  the 
shining  shore."  But  each  evil  cherished,  each  sin 
committed,  is  forming  and  maturing  the  character. 
Each  further  step  makes  its  eradication  so  much  the 
more  difficult.  Each  yielding  to  wrong  is  a  new  fang 
added  to  the  moral  cancer,  a  new  agony  to  be  en- 
dured in  cutting  it  out  from  the  soul.  If  you  would 
avoid  suffering,  yield  j^ourself  to  the  Lord's  com- 
mandments now  and  here.  If  you  would  be  spared 
the  delirious  agonies  of  recovery  from  the  soul's 
fever,  stand  aloof  from  the  pestilence  while  yet  you 
may.  If  you  would  climb  to  the  loftiest  heights, 


182  THE    WORLD   OF  SPIRITS. 

dwell  nearest  to  the  throne  of  God,  and  receive  the 
beams  of  his  love  to  the  fulness  of  your  capacity, 
you  must  prepare  yourself  here.  On  earth  the  char- 
acter is  formed  ;  in  other  spheres  you  can  only  de- 
velop the  quality  or  kind  of  life  freely  chosen  and 
begun  here.  And  whether  you  dwell  on  the  border 
lines  of  the  beautiful  land  or  in  its  inmost  centre, 
whether  you  enter  the  highest  wisdom  of  its  glorious 
life  or  plod  along  its  lower  levels,  whether  the  Divine 
love  is  faintly  discerned,  or  sweeps  through  your 
trembling  heart  with  a  power  which  makes  the  won- 
drous blessings  of  divinest  strength  your  own,  de- 
pends on  the  degree  of  your  fidelity  to  the  laws  of 
your  higher  life,  while  yet  you  are  on  earth.  The 
more  prompt  and  entire  our  obedience,  the  more 
light ;  the  more  love  we  acquire  below,  the  more 
power  above  to  have  and  hold  the  life  Divine.  The 
more  musical  the  quality  of  tone  which  the  heart's 
harp-strings  gain  below,  the  sweeter  the  tune  it  will 
play  above,  and  the  further  its  melody  will  float, 
with  the  capacity  of  attuning  other  hearts  to  the 
harmonies  of  heaven. 


"The  Swedenborg  Library." 

COMPLETE  in  12  volumes,  averaging  250  pages  each ;  consisting 
of  choice  selections  from  the  writings  of  Swedenborg  topically 
arranged,  with  a  full  Table  of  Contents.  The  great  Swede's  re- 
ligious and  ethical  teachings  are  here  presented  in  a  condensed, 
intelligible,  neat,  and  extremely  cheap  form ;  with  a  very  beauti- 
ful portrait  of  the  author  in  Vol.  XII.,  which  contains  320  pages. 
The  titles  of  the  several  volumes  are : 

1.  Death,  Resurrection  and  the  Judgment. 

2.  Heaven. 

3.  Freedom,  Rationality  and  Catholicity. 

4.  Divine  Providence  and  its  Laws. 

5.  Charity,  Faith  and  Works. 

6.  Free- Will,  Repentance,  Reformation  and  Regeneration. 

7.  Holy  Scripture  and  the  Key  to  its  Spiritual  Sense, 

8.  Creation,  Incarnation,Redemption,  and  the  Divine  Trinity. 

9.  Marriage  and  the  Sexes  in  both  Worlds. 

10.  The  Author's  Memorabilia. 

11.  The  Heavenly  Doctrine  of  the  Lord. 

12.  Swedenborg ;  With  a  Compend  of  his  Teachings. 


SOME   OF  ITS  RECOMMENDATIONS. 

1st.  It  gives  the  substance  of  Swedenborg's  teachings  in  a  com- 
pact form,  and  in  his  own  words  (translated),  with  references  to 
the  works  whence  the  extracts  are  taken. 

2d.  It  classifies  the  subjects  so  as  to  make  it  easy  for  the  reader 
to  find  whatever  spiritual  instruction  he  may  be  seeking. 

3d.  It  does  not  interfere  with  but  helps  all  other  enterprises 
which  aim  to  disseminate  the  highest  truths,  and  to  promote  the 
upbuilding  of  the  true  Church  on  earth. 

4th.  The  volumes  are  of  such  a  convenient  size,  that  one  of 
them  may  be  easily  carried  in  the  coat-pocket. 

5th.  Any  volume  of  the  series  makes  a  beautiful  gift-book  to 
a  friend,  or  to  any  seeker  after  the  highest  truths. 

6th.  Each  volume  being  complete  in  itself,  may  be  purchased 
separately  when  so  desired. 

7th.  The  work  is  gotten  up  in  a  very  tasteful  style,  and  the 
series  makes  a  beautiful  and  valuable  addition  to  any  library. 

8th.  Last,  but  not  least,  of  its  recommendations,  is  its  cheap- 
ness,—being  about  half  the  usual  price  of  similar  works. 

Price  50  cents  a  volume  (extra  cloth) ;  and  $8.00  the  set, 
elegantly  bound  in  6  volumes  (2  vols.  in  one),  in  half  Turkey  mo- 
rocco—titles on  the  backs  in  gilt  letters. 

A  liberal  discount  to  ministers  and  theological  students. 

Address     Swedenborg1  Publishing  Association, 

93O  Market  St.,  Philadelphia, 

Or,  B.  F.  BARRETT,  GERMANTOWN,  PA. 
1 


WHAT  GOOD  JUDGES  THINK  OF  IT. 

THE  following  extracts  are  from  letters  received 
by  the  Editor  from  seventeen  intelligent  New  Church 
ministers : 

"The  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY  plan  excites  the  universal  ad- 
miration of  those  whose  attention  I  have  called  to  it." 

41  Exactly  what  it  ought  to  be,  beautiful,  attractive,  and  not 
too  large.  Such  books  are  read.  I  regard  this  enterprise  as  the 
best  yet  started  to  promulgate  the  heavenly  doctrines." 

"This  seems  to  me  just  what  we  need ;  I  am  delighted  with  it." 

44  I  think  the  idea  is  a  very  happy  one :  I  have  shown  the  book 
to  several  of  our  people,  and  all  give  it  unqualified  praise." 

44  I  like  the  project  very  much.  .  .  .  Sure  you  will  be  gratified 
with  the  reception  which  the  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY  will  meet." 

4k  Splendid !  Just  the  thing  that  is  needed  by  a  large  class  of 
readers  even  in  our  so-called  New  Church  Societies." 

44  You  are  doing  just  now,  in  my  estimation,  the  greatest  work 
of  your  life ;  and  my  heart's  wish  is  that  every  member  of  the 
Church  may  encourage  you  in  it." 

44 1  have  received  and  read  several  volumes  of  the  SWEDEN- 
BORG LIBRARY  with  great  interest,  because  I  found  in  them 
the  best  missionary  books  that  I  have  ever  read." 

44  Just  the  thing  for  our  [missionary]  work.  .  .  I  like  it  very 
much,  and  believe  you  are  doing  a  good  service." 

41  The  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY  supplies  the  want  I  have  felt 
for  some  time,  and  proves  very  acceptable  and  convincing  read- 
ing to  beginners." 

44  The  volumes  are  convenient  for  family  and  social  reading, 
and  form  admirable  text-books  for  adult  classes,  and  elder 
classes  in  Sabbath-schools." 

44 1  think  you  are  engaged  in  a  noble  work  in  bringing  put  the 
substance  of  Swedenborg's  teachings  in  such  an  attractive  and 
inexpensive  form  as  the  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY." 

44  The  publication  of  the  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY  meets  my 
heartiest  approval.  It  was  a  well-conceived  idea,  and  has  been 
carried  out  in  great  good  taste." 

44  This  series  of  New  Church  works  has,  in  my  judgment,  no 
equal  for  giving  to  the  masses  the  grand  truths  of  the  New 
Age." 

44  The  little  books  are  delightful.  Volume  12  is  a  perfect  treas- 
ure, and  must  meet  a  very  general  want." 

44 1  find  the  SWEDENDORG  LIBRARY  every  way  satisfactory.  I 
deem  it  among  the  very  best  works  of  the  Church." 

44 1  am  more  and  more  delighted  with  what  I  see  of  the 
SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY.  Volume  12  seems  to  me  one  of  the 
very  best  things  we  have  in  the  literature  of  the  Church." 

2 


OPINIONS   OF  THE   PRESS. 


*'  The  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY  is  the  best  adapted  to  the  pur- 
pose of  bringing-  Swedenborg's  voluminous  system  within  the 
scope  of  popular  comprehension,  of  any  work  that  has  come  to 
our  notice."— Philadelphia  Inquirer. 

44  It  is  one  of  the  most  useful  works  which  has  lately  shown 
itself  in  the  Church.  For  this  reason  we  recommend  it  with  our 
whole  heart.  .  .  .  The  choice  of  extracts  is  exquisite,  admirable, 
and  of  the  greatest  importance  and  use  even  to  well-instructed 
members  of  the  New  Church."— Bote  der  Neuen  Kirche  (Rev.  O. 
A.  Brickman,  Editor). 

44  The  work  is  interesting  to  churchmen,  and  all  who  desire  to  be 
well  informed  on  the  religions  of  the  day."— Kokomo  Dispatch. 

44  Managers  of  New-Church  libraries  will  find  the  volumes  of 
this  series  especially  useful  to  persons  just  becoming  interested." 

—New  Jerusalem  Magazine. 

44  We  can  heartily  commend  this  little  book  to  any  who  may 
desire  a  general  notion  of  the  theological  views  of  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  men  that  ever  lived."— Cincinnati  Times. 

44  Swedenborg,  when  studied  for  the  sake  of  his  spirit  only, 
must  improve  in  the  esteem  of  all  good  men.  The  abridged 
edition  of  his  works  is  very  attractive  in  form,  and  is  full  enough 
to  convey  the  author's  meaning."— The  Christian  Union. 

44  Mr.  Barrett  is  excellently  well  qualified  for  this  labor. . .  The 
New  Church  is  growing ;  and  this  popularization  of  its  creed  will 
be  of  value  to  some  and  interest  to  all."— Phila.  North  American. 

44  If  one  desires  a  succinct,  clear,  and  adequate  idea  of  the 
teachings  of  the  New  Church,  here  in  these  handsome  and  port- 
able volumes,  in  a  cheap  form,  he  can  obtain  it."— Zion's  Herald. 

44  The  editor  has  done  a  real  service,  not  only  to  those  of  his 
own  special  faith,  but  for  thoughtful  Christians  in  all  denomina- 
tions. .  .  Such  selections  as  are  contained  in  this  neat  little  vol- 
ume, are  spiritually  edifying  and  abundantly  suggestive." 

—Chicago  Advance. 

44  Life  is  too  short  for  us  to  read  Swedenborg  in  extenso ;  .  .  . 
But  gleaned  from  the  wide  expanse  of  the  Swedenborg  litera- 
ture by  a  man  of  rare  talent  for  his  W9rk,  the  teachings  of  this 
author  appear  to  their  best  advantage  in  this  edition." 

—Minneapolis  Tribune. 

44  We  think  this  [Vol.  VI.]  an  excellent  continuation  of  an  ex- 
cellent series  of  New  Church  publications." 

—New  Jerusalem  Messenger. 

44  An  excellent  condensation  of  the  pith  and  substance  of  Swe- 
denborg's  teachings  and  revelations.  Whoever  desires  to  know 
the  fundamental  views  of  his  church,  will  find  them  here." 

—Zion's  Herald. 

44  The  series  is  every  way  admirable,  and  cannot  fail  to  be 
welcomed  by  the  religiously  inclined  of  other  denominations, 
as  well  as  by  the  immediate  followers  of  the  doctrines  taught  by 
the  Swedish  philosopher."— Chicago  Journal. 
3 


4  THE   SWEDENBORG    LIBRARY." 


OPINION  OF  THE  NEW-CHURCH  REVIEW. 

The  following  is  copied  from  the  July  (1882)  number 
of  the  New-Church  Review,  and  is  from  the  pen  of  a 
competent  critic,  and  one  of  the  most  intelligent  and 
scholarly  ministers  in  the  New  Church. 

u  Of  the  'Swedenborg  Library,'  as  edited  by  Mr. 
Barrett,  and  published  in  the  neat,  elegant  and  at- 
tractive little  quartos,  we  may  justly  say  that  it  will 
be  hard  to  find  any  other  printed  matter  in  the  world, 
which  will  so  worthily  occupy  an  equal  twelve  inches 
of  shelf-room.  This  little  Library  is  a  specialty,  in- 
deed. It  is  devoted  to  one  and  only  one  theological 
system,  but  that  a  very  catholic  and  comprehensive 
one  ;  so  that  there  is  hardly  a  principle  in  science  or 
philosophy,  a  question  of  morals,  or  of  life,  or  of  death, 
or  of  the  here,  or  of  the  hereafter,  that  is  not  eluci- 
dated in  it.  But  it  is  analytic  also,  and  so  thoroughly 
and  admirably  so,  that  we  find  here  its  peculiar  value, 
not  only  to  the  world  at  large  but  to  the  New  Church- 
man himself,  to  whom  the  theology  here  presented  is 
already  tolerably  familiar. 

"  In  calling  attention  to  the  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY 
in  these  pages,  we  have  not  in  view  so  much  to  adver- 
tise the  work,  already  far  more  widely  known  than  is 
the  REVIEW,  as  to  dwell  upon  certain  features  which 
commend  the  books,  especially  to  the  familiar  and  con- 
stant use  of  the  New  Church,  especially  in  the  family 
and  in  the  instruction  of  youth. 

u  We  need  say  but  little  about  the  advantages  the 
Library  offers  to  the  world  at  large.  The  handy  and 
inexpensive,  yet  thoroughly  tasteful  little  volumes, 
speak  for  themselves,  and  are  sure  to  find  a  welcome 
entry  into  thousands  of  homes  and  libraries  where  the 
more  sombre  and  stately  volumes  of  the  complete 
4 


4  THE   SWEDENBORG    LIBRARY." 


editions  of  the  author,  or  the  more  elaborate  and  pon- 
derous single  treatises,  would  be  politely  declined  ad- 
mission. The  advertising  circular  calls  attention  to 
some  of  the  '  distinguishing  merits  and  obvious  advan- 
tages of  this  series,'  enumerating  among  these  its 
cheapness,  its  convenient  size,  its  attractiveness,  its 
compactness  and  brevity  of  statement,  and  the  aid  it 
affords  to  the  reader  in  its  classification  of  subjects.  It 
is  especially  the  last-named  feature  which  commends 
the  work,  in  our  judgment,  and  which  puts  the  New 
Church,  as  well  as  the  general  reading  public,  under 
special  obligation  to  the  painstaking  editor  of  this 
series. 

u  The  diffuseness  of  Swedenborg's  style  has  been 
the  general  complaint  urged  by  most  novitiate  readers, 
and  the  very  vastness  of  the  field  his  writings  cover, 
makes  the  investigation  of  them  seem  at  first  an  almost 
hopeless  task.  Just  where  to  turn  for  enlightenment 
on  this  or  that  special  topic,  has  not  been  always  at 
the  command  of  well-read  New  Churchmen,  without 
the  aid  of  the  somewhat  rare  indexes  ;  and  then  no 
little  time  is  consumed  in  searching  for  passages,  in 
half  a  dozen  volumes  it  may  be. 

"  Now  we  would  not  think  for  a  moment  of  recom- 
mending this  analysis  of  the  writings  by  Mr.  Barrett 
as  a  substitute  for  any  student  to  adopt  in  any  thor- 
ough or  fundamental  investigation  of  any  topic.  The 
editor  never  intended  them  for  this  use.  He  refers 
his  readers  to  the  complete  works  of  Swedenborg  for 
the  thorough  and  final  study  of  any  of  these  subjects. 
But  we  are  free  to  say  that  for  a  ready  reference  and 
a  convenient  summary  of  what  Swedenborg  has  said 
on  any  of  the  themes  here  mentioned,  we  do  not  know 
where  to  look  for  a  more  valuable  work  than  this. 
Moreover,  it  is  of  the  first  importance  that  in  the 
study  of  any  subject  there  should  be  an  order  and 

5  .- 


'THE   SWEDENBORG    LIBRARY." 


a  progressive  classification  of  truths,  as  well  as  an 
analysis.  And  here  is  where  we  have  found  much 
to  admire  in  these  little  books. 

"With  the  helpfulness  of  this  orderly  arrangement 
of  the  contents,  we  have  been  especially  impressed 
in  Vol.  I.,  on  'Death,  Eesurrection  and  the  Judg- 
ment,' and  in  Vol.  VIII.,  on  'Creation,  Incarnation, 
Kedemption  and  the  Trinity.'  Any  one  can  see  at  a 
glance  that  this  is  the  natural  order  of  these  topics 
when  considered  together,  and  the  plan  of  the  respec- 
tive volumes  is  arranged  accordingly.  But  few  have 
thought,  perhaps,  what  a  complete  whole  each  of  these 
groups  makes  when  thus  considered  together,  and 
what  a  clearly  defined  and  lasting  impress  a  careful 
study  of  such  a  treatise  must  leave  in  any  thinking 
mind.  .  .  . 

' '  Take  this  little  book  on  Death,  etc. ,  Vol.  I.  Here 
a  man  is  literally  introduced  into  the  spiritual  world 
at  the  threshold.  He  is  led  upward  through  the  proc- 
ess of  physical  dying,  having  first  been  described  in 
his  real  being,  that  is,  as  consisting  of  a  spiritual  and 
immortal  body,  clothed  on  earth  with  a  temporary 
material  one.  Arriving  in  the  spiritual  world  he  is 
shown  what  manner  of  life  the  spiritual  body  leads  ; 
then  he  is  led  through  the  several  stages  of  the  resur- 
rection, or  the  development  of  the  real  man  out  of 
all  the  outside  concealments  which  in  some  measure 
attend  him  even  into  the  world  of  spirits,  until  at 
length  he  is  brought  to  that  knowledge  of  his  real, 
abiding,  unchangeable  character  or  fitness  for  heaven 
or  hell,  which  constitutes  the  judgment.  Then  is 
briefly  described  the  quality  of  the  life  in  heaven  and 
in  hell,  and  some  practical  guides  for  us  all  as  to  '  the 
way  that  leads  to  heaven,'  while  we  are  still  under- 
going the  discipline  of  earth.  The  little  book  is  a 
wonderful  mariner's  chart  for  a  world  that  reaches 
6 


"THE   SWEDENBORG    LIBRARY." 


out  into  eternity.  It  will  suffice  for  all  the  funeral  dis- 
courses that  ever  need  be  uttered,  so  far  as  instruc- 
tion goes ;  and  it  tells  a  man  more  of  what  he  is  made 
of,  than  all  the  volumes  of  ancient  or  modern  philos- 
ophy put  together.  And  yet  this  is  but  one  of  these 
little  treatises. 

u  In  Yol.  VIII.  the  arrangement  is  indeed  drawn 
from  the  author's  True  Christian  Eeligion;  but  the 
subject  of  creation  is  wonderfully  elucidated  by  the 
citations  from  the  Divine  Love  and  Wisdom.  No  sys- 
tem of  pure  philosophy  could  present  a  more  orderly 
or  logical  sequence  than  is  here  observed,  in  starting 
out  first  with  God  as  the  sole  Creative  Substance,  then 
discussing  the  materials,  the  form  and  process  of  crea- 
tion by  the  method  of  discrete  degrees,  then  the  ends 
or  uses  of  creation,  then  the  completed  creation  or 
universe,  as  an  image  of  the  infinite  ;  then  the  influx 
of  spirit  into  nature,  or  the  relation  of  matter  to  life 
and  of  the  natural  to  the  spiritual  world.  From  this 
primary  discussion  the  book  proceeds  to  the  descent 
of  Jehovah  God  into  the  created  world  or  into  nature 
as  man,  for  the  purpose  of  the  redemption  and  salva- 
tion of  the  human  race.  This  embraces  the  discussion 
of  the  Incarnation,  of  the  union  of  Humanity  with 
Divinity  in  the  Lord  ;  also  the  wars  with  the  power 
of  evil,  or  the  'conflict  with  the  hells,'  by  which  the 
Lord  succored  mankind  and  restored  the  race  to  spir- 
itual liberty  and  to  the  light  of  divine  truth ;  and 
finally,  the  Holy  Spirit  and  its  operation,  and  the 
divine  Trinity,  what  it  is  and  what  it  is  not ;  and  the 
Divine  Providence  as  directing  the  formulating  of  the 
Christian  creeds,  teaching  a  trinity  of  persons  with  a 
view  to  protecting  the  Christian  church  from  Arian- 
ism,  or  the  utter  rejection  of  the  Lord's  Divinity  until 
the  time  of  his  second  coming,  to  show  us  in  Himself, 
4  plainly  of  the  Father ; ' —  this  sublime  progress  of 
7 


4  THE    SWEDENBORG    LIBRARY." 


truths  is  here  unfolded  to  the  reader  with  an  admi- 
rable order,  conciseness  and  simplicity  of  arrangement, 
which  makes  the  study  of  the  subject  an  attractive 
one,  and  leaves  a  most  satisfying  impression,  because 
clear  and  well  defined. 

"  We  might  instance  the  features  of  others  of  these 
volumes  which  have  especially  delighted  us ;  but  the 
chief  merit  in  all,  is  this  excellent  arrangement  by 
which  the  reader  finds  so  conveniently  at  hand  a  brief 
survey  of  the  most  interesting  truths  on  the  subject 
before  him.  For  purposes  of  religious  culture,  or  for 
devotional  reading  as  a  spiritual  exercise  most  health- 
ful for  every  Christian,  we  cannot  too  highly  commend 
the  volume  on  Free  Will,  Repentance,  Reformation  and 
Regeneration,  as  a  most  practical  and  genuinely  useful 
guide  to  a  man's  everyday  thoughts  and  character. 

"  The  volume  on  Heaven,  far  from  being  a  mere  repe- 
tition of  Vol.  I.,  is  a  survey  of  the  regenerated  human 
life,  and  a  picture  of  a  perfect  society  with  its  uses  and 
its  delights  as  exhibited  in  the  actual  life  of  angels. 
It  is  as  beautiful  and  wonderful  as  any  Utopia  with 
the  advantage  of  being  very  real,  and  attainable  to 
all  who  will  accept  the  simple  rules  of  citizenship 
here  laid  down. 

"The  volume  on  'Holy  Scripture  and  the  Key  to 
its  spiritual  sense,'  contains  not  only  the  general  doc- 
trine of  the  internal  sense,  but  is  full  of  practical  and 
pointed  illustrations  of  the  doctrine  of  correspond- 
ences ;  concluding  with  some  'trials  of  the  key,'  and 
an  example  of  '  its  power  to  unlock  Rev.  xxi. '  This 
very  plain  presentation  of  the  subject  cannot  but  im- 
press favorably  the  minds  of  the  young ;  and  we  do 
not  see  why  the  study  of  the  Word  by  this  means 
should  not  become  a  fascinating  as  well  as  edifying 
employment  for  youthful  minds,  provided  it  be  done 
reverently  and  in  a  religious  spirit." 
8 


MR.  BARRETT'S    WORKS. 

Lectures  on  the  New  Dispensation.  Extra  cloth,  pp.  328, 
12  mo.  Price  60  cents. 

"  An  admirable  work  for  making  one  acquainted  with  the 
doctrines  of  the  New  Church."— Intellectual  Repository. 

The  New  Yiew  of  Hell.    Extra  cloth,  pp.  215,  12mo.    50 
cents. 
"  Contains  much  that  is  profoundly  true,  and  much  that  is 

exceedingly  suggestive."— New  York  Independent. 

The  Golden  City.     Extra  cloth,  pp.  253,  12mo.    Price  60 

cents. 

"The  most  important  book  concerning  the  New  Church 
which  has  been  written  for  years." 

—Boston  New  Church  Magazine. 

Letters  to  Beecher  on  the  Future  Life.  Extra  cloth, 
pp.  191,  12mo.  Price  50  cents. 

"A  grand  and  impressive  statement  of  the  New  Church 
doctrine  of  the  Future  Life."— New  Church  Independent. 

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"  A  very  interesting  work."— -Pittsburgh  Commercial  Gazette. 
"  The  spirit  of  the  work  is  excellent." — The  Congregationalist. 

Letters  to  Beecher  on  the  Divine  Trinity.  Extra  cloth, 
pp.  160,  12mo.  Price  50  cents. 

Presenting  with  great  clearness  and  force  the  doctrine  of 
the  Divine  Trinity  as  taught  by  Emanuel  Swedenborg. 

The  New  Church;  Its  Nature  and  Whereabout.    Pp. 

213,  12mo.     Price  50  cents. 

Showing  that  this  Church  is  not  a  sect,  but  much  wider  and 
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A  Bishop's  Gun  Reversed.  Being  an  Attack  on  the  New 
Church  by  Bishop  Burgess,  and  the  Reply  thereto  by  B. 
F.  Barrett.  Pp.  220,  18rno.  Price  25  cents. 

"  Your  reply  to  Bishop  Burgess  is  doing  good  here.  .  .  When 
read  along  with  the  Bishop's  attack  the  effect  produced  is  ex- 
cellent. By  all  means  have  the  attack  added."  (It  is  added.) 

Memorial  to  the  General  Convention ;  and  full  Text  of 
passages  in  Swedenborg  referred  to,  revealing  the  grand 
catholicity  of  his  teachings.  Pp.  95.  Price  6  cents ;  five 
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Sent  (post-paid)  to  any  address  on  receipt  of  prices  here  named. 

Address     Swedenborg  Publishing  Association, 

93O  Market  St.,  Philadelphia. 
9 


SWEDENBORG'S  THEOLOGICAL  WOKKS 

At  Greatly  Reduced  Prices. 

The  American  Swedenborg  Printing  and  Publishing  So- 
ciety, desirous  of  securing  a  wider  circulation  for  Sweden- 
borg's  writings,  offers  its  large,  uniform,  octavo  edition  of 
his  Theological  Works,  on  good  paper  and  well  bound  in 
cloth,  at  the  following  greatly  reduced  prices : 

Per  Vol.  Formerly. 

True  Christian  Keligion.    982  pp $1.OO  $2.50 

Arcana  Coelestia.    10  vols.,  5792  pp GO  1.50 

Apocalypse  Revealed,    2  vols.,  1100  pp GO  1.50 

Miscellaneous  Theological  Works,    526  pp..        GO  1.50 

Conjugial  Love.    472  pp GO  1.25 

Heaven  and  Hell.    375  pp 5O  1.25 

Divine  Providence.    308  pp 5O  1.25 

Divine  Love  and  Wisdom.     199  pp SO  1.00 

Four  Leading  Doctrines.    247  pp SO  1.00 

When  sent  by  mail,  the  following  sums  must  be  added  for 
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SPECIAL   OFFER  TO   CLERGYMEN. 

This  Society  offers  to  clergymen  of  all  denominations  its  full 
set  of  Swedenborg's  Theological  Works  (19  volumes,  8vo),  con- 
taining 9,434  pages,  on  good  paper,  well  bound  in  cloth,  boxed 
ready  for  shipment  from  New  York,  for 

$7.5O. 

To  those  who  have  already  received  "  Heaven  and  Hell,"  "  True 
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sive of  these,  will  be  sent  for 

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THE  FOUR  DOCTRINES,  32mo,  372  pages,  flexible  cloth.  Single 
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cluded. 

Address  E     H     SWINNEY, 

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10 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

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tQec* 


^'291962 


U.C.BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


336041 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


